About

This is the personal blog of Julian Abagond, where I write 500 words a day on whatever I want. Well, at least on most days. In the Real World I am a computer programmer.

Name: Julian Abagond
Email: abagond at gmail dot com
WordPress: abagond.wordpress.com <- you are here!
Pinterest: abagond
Instagram: @JulianAbagond
Tumblr: julianabagond.tumblr.com
Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc: I do not use these.

I am abagond or julianabagond on platforms of interest and try to use the above avatar. In some cases “abagond” has been taken by others, like on Tumblr, Instagram, and Blogspot. I am most active on WordPress.

You can also leave a message below.

FAQ

Q: What is that a picture of at the top?

Further down on this page, under “Mastheads” is an incomplete list of banner pictures or header images I have used, listed in reverse chronological order.

Q: How come my comment did not appear?

I have a comment policy and a spam filter.

Q: What is your real name, street address, etc? Are you Haitian? Nigerian?

What personal information I give over the Internet is under this post: Abagond blah blah. I write under a pen name for a reason.

Q: Can I use one of your images?

Feel free. I mostly get them off of Google Images and Tumblr, so no credit goes to me.

Q: Can I cross post one of your posts?

So long as you link back to the original or give proper credit.

Q: How can I do a guest post on your blog?

See my Guidelines for guest posts. I require 500 words, give or take 20.

Q: How do I start a blog? What advice do you have?

Go to blogger.com or wordpress.com and sign up. Blogger is easier, but WordPress is nicer. After that show up to write the posts. The most important thing by far is to write regularly, at least once a week.

More at this post: Advice for new bloggers.

Q: Can I send you my manuscript?

No.

Q: Can I advertise on your blog?

No.

Q: Why do you use boldfaced words everywhere?

To make skimming easier.

Q: Why do you misspell the word “colour”?

Because I use Oxford spelling.

Q: How come you don’t list your sources?

Someimes I do, but generally I do not. I am not a scholar nor is this a scholarly blog. Most of what I know is easily knowable by anyone with Internet service.

Schedule

I put up a new post at 12.00 GMT (7.00am in New York) as many days a week as I can manage without sacrificing too much quality.

Conventions

For those who wonder about such things:

Weights and measure: metric (sometimes English units).
Money: US dollar (sometimes crowns or grams of silver).
Calendar: Gregorian.
Era: Christian, years before and after the birth of Jesus Christ.
- Years after Christ: 2015 = +2015 = AD 2015 = 2015 CE.
- Years before Christ: -295 = 295 BC = 295 BCE.
- Centuries are written with “00s”: the -200s, for example, means the years -299 to -200.
- There is no year zero. I would love to write 295 BC as -294 CE, but nearly everyone would assume I meant 294 BC.
Language: Standard English as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary and the blog’s Glossary and as guided by the blog’s style guide.
Signature: Starting in 2015, I sign posts in this format: “– Abagond, 2008, 2015.” The first number is the year the post went up, the second (optional) number is when I last updated it (not counting small changes like fixing the English, adding links or adding the signature itself).
Likes – I only “like” my own post if at least a month has passed since I wrote it. I am in love with most of my posts right after I write them, of course, but some make me cringe later on.
Links in italics – are external in most cases and are subject to link rot.
Comments in italics – Those by me are in my moderator voice.

Mastheads

An incomplete list of images I have used at the top of the blog page:

Since January 9th 2022: Detail from a wall painting of the Tomb of Nakht (TT52), Thebes, Egypt, circa -1400.

Since December 11th 2021: I put up my Christmas tree.

Since July 1st 2021: Detail from a wall painting of the Tomb of Nakht (TT52), Thebes, Egypt, circa -1400.

Since May 7th 2021: Detail from “Blues” (1929) by Archibald Motley. This was my masthead picture through most of 2010 (see blog masthead museum).

Since April 9th 2021: Detail from “American Collection #1: We Came to America” (1997), a quilt by Faith Ringgold. The 1:4 aspect ratio did not allow me to include the burning slave ship.

Since March 2nd 2021: A picture from the March on Washington, 1963 via BET, for Women’s History Month.

Since January 8th 2021: Detail from a wall painting of the Tomb of Nakht (TT52), Thebes, Egypt, circa -1400.

Since December 15th 2020: I put up my Christmas tree.

Since November 27th 2020: An orange Twitter bird, to be up for the duration of my news diet of Trump tweets.

Since November 12th 2020: Detail from a wall painting of the Tomb of Nakht (TT52), Thebes, Egypt, circa -1400.

Since October 25th 2020: My virtual Biden lawn sign for the 2020 election for US president. Cropped from an image found on reddit.

Since July 31st 2020: New York City in April 1979, from Programming note #41: Living like it’s 1979.

Since July 28th 2020: John Lewis’s body lying in state at the US Capitol building on July 27th. From ABC News.

Since July 1st 2020: For my delayed Asian American History Month 2020.

For more see older mastheads at the Masthead Museum: 2007-2014 and 2014-2020.

– Abagond, 2008, 2020.

283 Comments »

283 Responses

on Sun Aug 24th 2008 at 14:55:47 benhur

Acredite!!! nunca, jamais havia te escutado, estou aqui na India me contate pls!!

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on Tue Aug 26th 2008 at 14:58:46 afshin

hello kissme my lady

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on Fri Sep 5th 2008 at 16:34:04 Godfrey Conrad Hunter

I am a retired police officer.I would like to meet and talk with Taccora Jones. Please let her know that. I am not a dangerous person. She can e-mail me at godfreyhunter@yahoo.com.

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on Thu Sep 11th 2008 at 20:18:11 Catrina

I want to be a model! i’m 32 , 5,4
116 1lbs. can pass for a 22 year old. pretty teeth nice smile. I am in atlanta. african american what do I need to do?

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on Fri Sep 12th 2008 at 05:51:50 abagond

See what model agencies are in Atlanta and if they have open calls, go to them. You might want to consider moving to New York, which has more agencies and more work.

The important thing is to believe in yourself and not give up. I know that sounds corny, but if you read the lives of models you will find that while some were discovered when they were 15, most were more drive than good looks: they have a never-say-die spirit.

Suggested reading on this blog:
https://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/10/22/fashion-model/
https://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/10/17/black-fashion-models/
https://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/04/01/tyra-banks/
https://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/02/05/liris-crosse/
https://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/06/12/vida-guerra/
https://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/11/14/rojane-fradique/

Here are all are my blog posts tagged under “models”:
https://abagond.wordpress.com/category/biography/models/

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on Fri Sep 12th 2008 at 19:49:36 The Cruel Secretary

Hey Abagond–

Thanks for the link love!

–Abrazos,
AJ

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on Mon Sep 15th 2008 at 18:14:21 Afghana

Pashtuns are not Persian. Persian is an ethnic group as is Pasthun under the Iranic umbrella.

Afghanistan is not western Persia, that is ridiculous. Yes Pashtuns do have a country it is called Afghanistan. Afghan being synonymous with Pashtun. What the population of Pashtuns is in Pakistan is irrelevant, Afghanistan was founded as an independent state by Pashtuns thus it is the Pashtun homeland.

thanks

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on Tue Sep 16th 2008 at 23:34:17 abagond

I mean Persian in the broader sense, what you seem to mean by Iranic. There have been times in history when Iran and Afghanistan were one country. And Persia itself has been ruled by different Iranic people at different times in its history – like the Parthians and the Medes. Yet it is still the same country – Persia. That is how I am thinking of it.

To me a Persian is not just someone who speaks Farsi, but anyone who speaks Farsi or any of the related languages, like the Kurds, Pashtuns, Tajiks and Baluchis.

I know that is like calling the English and Swedes “Germans”, but in a sense they are Germans. If St Augustine was brought back to life he would call them Goths and not be far wrong.

The people we call “Chinese” or “Arab” are hardly all that uniform either, yet it still makes sense to use those terms. They are good enough for general use, if not for scholarly use.

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Sun Sep 21st 2008 at 15:30:10 Melinda

Abagond,

Thank you. I am an older, fat, white woman. I am also a blind idealist. Beauty, true beauty has no weight, height,ethnicity or gender. (Yes, I believe Men can be beautiful too.)

I also agree with your assessment of male/female relationships. I do not believe it is sexism, its nature. And I for one am happy to be the nurturer and “object” of my husband’s interest and love.

I am thanking you, simply for restoring my faith in the fact that I, as an intelligent, vivacious woman, have my own worth and beauty.

I count. TAKE THAT, HOLLYWOOD ET AL.

Me

LikeLiked by 1 person
on Mon Sep 22nd 2008 at 03:10:12 abagond

Well, you might be thanking me too soon. I get plenty of angry comments from fat women – and thin ones too – particularly for this post:

https://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/10/31/thick-black-women/

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on Thu Sep 25th 2008 at 03:20:09 mynameismyname

Aba,

I’m having a problem posting comments.

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on Thu Sep 25th 2008 at 03:22:41 mynameismyname

I wanted to post this comment under the post “The most beautiful black women according to white people” yet it won’t appear:

Ryon C,

You are picky! LOL. I kid.

One site that I can refer you to is http://gorgeousblackwomen.blogspot.com/. There’s defintely a variety of women on there as well as some examples of the black look that you are looking for.

Tell me what you think about Oluchi.

As far as some examples of the look that you’re talking about, perhaps: Ajuma, Rachael Williams, Januel McKenzie, Honorie Uwera, Valery Prince, Tomiko Fraser, Abgani Darego, Nina Keita, Kiara Kabukuru. There’s more even though those are the ones that I can remember off the top of my head. I can refer you to more if you want, of various beauty queens and models as the such.

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on Thu Sep 25th 2008 at 06:56:04 Aldous

Hey Abagond. Love your blog. Very thought provoking. I think a beautiful black woman that you should consider is Leona Lewis! I never thought she was so beautiful. She is an artist from England. Check her out.

Cheers

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on Thu Sep 25th 2008 at 08:10:35 abagond

mynameismyname: I copied your comment to “The most beautiful black women according to white people”:

https://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/03/03/the-most-beautiful-black-women-according-to-white-people/#comment-12940

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on Thu Sep 25th 2008 at 08:11:08 abagond

Aldous: Thanks for the suggestion. I will check her out.

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on Thu Nov 27th 2008 at 16:49:24 Chijioke C.J

i must appreciate the effort and the availability of all the actors and actresses any time they act they do convey an important messages to the whole world, so that the world will learn from them.

Cj.

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on Thu Nov 27th 2008 at 16:50:38 Chijioke C.J

i must appreciate the effort and the availability of all the actors and actresses any time they act they do convey an important messages to the whole world,
so that the world will learn from them.
u can reach me via

cj4justice@yahoo.com

Cj.

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on Mon Dec 29th 2008 at 00:14:18 Keith Parker

I skimmed over some of the things written here, and would like to say that I am disappointed by a very bad assumption that you have regrettably stated as a fact. And I was offended by what I read. I read “most white people still think that they are better than others” or something like that. But I wonder how you arrived at that conclusion? Do you know most “white people”? Did you ask them? Did they tell you that? I am white I while I do think well of myself in some regards it has nothing to do with Race, family, nationality, or even religion. It is based on how I behave.

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on Mon Dec 29th 2008 at 01:59:30 abagond

You should read (not skim) these posts:

https://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/05/31/colour-blind-racism/

https://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/08/06/all-whites-are-racist/

https://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/02/09/how-white-people-think/

https://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/07/02/why-whites-are-blind-to-their-racism/

I am basing most of this on my own experience in and near New York. I do not have an army of sociologists and statisticians to back me up. But I find it odd that it is almost always white people, not black people, who disagree with me. If I was way off base there would be disagreement on both sides (as there are for some of my posts, but not the ones in question).

True, blacks have self-interested reasons to agree with me, but then so do whites have self-interested reasons to disagree with me. Consider that.

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on Sat Jan 24th 2009 at 21:00:47 mustafa

tolkien_87@hotmail.com and koktengri@rambler.ru

TÜRK=KAZAK=KIRGIZ=AZERİ=TÜRKMEN=ÖZBEK=UYGUR=TATAR=AVŞAR=ALTAY=HAKAS=TUVA=SAKA,YAKUT=SALAR=BAŞKURT=ÇUVAS=AVAR=ÇEÇEN ====ALL PEOPLE TÜRK

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on Wed Jan 28th 2009 at 14:47:39 Blanc2

Agabond: You’re a literate guy. You seriously need to check out the fiction of Edward P. Jones. I discovered him for myself by seredipity — one of his short stories was published in The New Yorker. I rarely read the New Yorker, but I had picked up an issue in an airport news stand for some business travel reading and stumbled upon this gem.

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/08/07/060807fi_fiction

I later purchased his two anthologies of short fiction and I was blown away by how good they are. The genious of Edward P. Jones lies in his ability to craft individual characters with different, distinct, unique voices. Contrast this to, say, Amy Tan, whose characters are so indistinguishable that “Joy Luck Club” presented one of the few instances where I could honestly say that the movie was better.

I recently picked up Edward P. Jones’s novel, “The Known World.” This is a stunningly work of sublime beauty and humanity. You ought to do a post on him.

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on Thu Jan 29th 2009 at 05:14:26 abagond

Oh cool. Thanks for the reccommendation. (That is sad about Amy Tan.)

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on Tue Feb 3rd 2009 at 02:49:46 lance cody givens

how many brothers did david ruffin have

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on Tue Feb 3rd 2009 at 05:54:17 abagond

The Wikipedia says it was at least 2.5: older brothers Quincy and Jimmy and a half-brother named Calvin.

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on Wed Feb 4th 2009 at 17:18:51 Natasha

Hello I’m Natasha Lucero I go to Adams city high school. I just want a couple minutes of your time. I am doing a project on racism and I wanted to ask you a couple of questions to make my paper better with real facts. So if thats fine with you I would like to ask you a couple.
-Natasha

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on Thu Feb 5th 2009 at 12:41:55 abagond

Send me an email with your questions.

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on Thu Feb 5th 2009 at 16:11:13 Charles

I’m a daily reader of your blog, and when I saw this book review in the Times it jumped out at me as something you would find interesting:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/05/books/05masl.html?_r=1&ref=books

It’s the true story of a very upper class 19th century white man who managed to move in the highest circles of white society, AND be married to a black woman with whom he had 5 children, and keep each of his lives secret from the other. Amazing.

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on Fri Feb 6th 2009 at 00:49:21 abagond

Wow! Thanks for the recommendation! Better living through blogging!

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on Sat Feb 21st 2009 at 00:35:14 temple

@Blanc2
Among my many tons of unread books is the Unknown World. I think I’ll pull it from the middle of book pile 4 & read–soon…I hope.
@Charles
That does sound like an enticing read. Back to Amazon I go.

Abagond,
two words: Eric Holder

Thank you for a dynamic, thought provoking blog.

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on Sat Feb 21st 2009 at 02:09:04 abagond

Yes, I was thinking about doing a post on Eric Holder’s race speech, so I guess now I will! Thanks for the suggestion. I will put a link to it here when it is up:

https://abagond.wordpress.com/2009/02/21/about-eric-holders-race-speech-2/

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on Wed Feb 25th 2009 at 12:53:50 mike v

forgot to tell you “black in america 2” cnn is coming out…why?

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on Sat Mar 21st 2009 at 16:26:12 andre

what is a Creole – isn’t that a person of mixed black and white parentage? or no?

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on Sun Mar 22nd 2009 at 03:01:57 abagond

Creoles in the American sense means the French who founded and settled New Orleans and Louisiana. Many are mixed, maybe most are, but that is not what makes you Creole. More here:

https://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/03/15/creoles/

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on Thu Mar 26th 2009 at 22:38:33 laromana

Why so few white men marry black women

abagond,
I found the ANTI-BW HATE spewed by several ANTI-BW RACISTS in response to this topic highly disturbing and offensive. I would like to see you do a post on ANTI-BW RACISM. As an Afro-latina BW, I (and other BW) have been subjected to this brand of racism and I think it (and the ANTI-BW LIES, MYTHS, AND STEREOTYPES it promotes) needs to be confronted and destroyed.
Thanks for doing all you can to respect the HUMANITY, DIGNITY, AND FEMININITY OF BW.
Keep up the good work!

Thanks for all you do to promote

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on Fri Mar 27th 2009 at 17:08:36 abagond

I did a series on stereotypes about black women last year that ranks high on Google for “stereotypes about black women”:

https://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/03/05/stereotypes-about-black-women/

If you have a particular topic that I have not covered, let me know. Since I write six days a week, I am always looking for new ideas. I prefer topics that can be stated in three words or less.

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on Sat Mar 28th 2009 at 01:27:17 stanley

hi my name is stanley and i am from nigeria but i live in sweden stockholm pls can u my maill add is there hope to here from u soon

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on Sun Apr 19th 2009 at 18:02:16 Geedaj

Hello Abagond, I just saw the best movie this century has to offer..the Movie is “American Violet” Starring Nicole Beharie, Alfre Woodard, Charles Dutton. Google it..It is amazing..If you had the pleasure to see the movie, what is your thoughts on it..and what do you think about the break out star Nicole. In my opinion she is as talented as she is beautiful..This is a must see.

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on Sun Apr 19th 2009 at 20:10:43 abagond

I have not seen it yet. I have heard of it. I like both Woodard and Dutton, so based just on that it should be pretty good. Thanks for the recommendation. When I see it I will write a post on it.

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on Sun May 3rd 2009 at 16:55:12 miker

Hi Abagond..i think im posting posts in the wrong blogs, like the post in Mali Empire that i posted, my post has nothing to do with the topic on that thread. Feel free to delete or to move the post to a appropiate place..thanks.
( ill try to only write posts that relates to the original topic of the blogs ).

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on Mon May 4th 2009 at 06:15:32 abagond

You will have to copy it and put it in the right place – I cannot post as you. I can only delete it.

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on Mon May 4th 2009 at 08:42:26 miker

ok..thanks.

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on Tue May 5th 2009 at 22:08:44 Dedabets

abagond – can you show me how to add an image to my page? I cant seem to get it to work. Thaks for helping set up my site!

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on Tue May 5th 2009 at 22:59:57 Dedabets

Never mind – figured it out, I switched to your format…and added a header

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on Tue May 5th 2009 at 23:43:24 abagond

When you edit a post in WordPress somewhere between the title and the where you edit the body of the post there is a line that says “Upload/Insert”. Click on the first icon there. It is a grey square inside a white square. That will let you add an image.

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on Wed May 6th 2009 at 00:09:32 abagond

Oh, you mean the masthead. I like that picture:

http://theaveragegirlnextdoor.wordpress.com/

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on Wed May 6th 2009 at 02:17:06 Dedabets

Thats my inner me – wood nyphy type – she is a little thin though…i think a spirit of nature wouldnt be so thin – but thats how I picture my spirit. I need to find an artist that will draw a curvy full figured wood nyphy…

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on Sat May 23rd 2009 at 01:40:22 lil'vina

how come i can’t post any comments no more?

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on Sun May 24th 2009 at 02:54:52 abagond

Not sure. They keep winding up in my spam filter for some reason….

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on Mon May 25th 2009 at 01:30:48 DaliSalvadorAde

I was just reading your post on how to tell if a commentator is white or not,and what you said is ridiculously spot on…I just want to share with you a brief conversation between one of my friends (white girl) and I… (I don’t want to make it too long)

my friend: To me, theres only one race and thats the HUMAN race. Color, hair type, features, none of those matter to me. We are all humans and part of the world God created. Im not forgetting who i am. I am a human, God’s creation, God’s child. And I dont have a religion just a relationship with the Lord.

ME: true, but if God just wanted one human race, why did he create so many colors, shapes, and sizes? I want to relish in the fact that I am a black woman. I like my skin, my hair, whatever. Like I said before, I think we should learn to see beauty in each other, not try to deny that we are different.

Anyway, I don’t know why white people want to insist on “not seeing color”. Its just as blindness! They think saying that they don’t see color removes them of the inherited racism that plagues our society. Whatever, I need more black friends, ‘cuz some people just don’t understand. LOL

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on Mon May 25th 2009 at 03:22:45 abagond

Most White Americans who grew up after Martin Luther King were brought up to be colour-blind racists. They think that if they do not say certain words and try not to notice race then racism will go away. But it seems to be more of a front than a change of heart. In my experience people who talk and act like that still look down on blacks. And just in not noticing you are black can come off as a put-down, like there was something wrong in being black.

More here:

https://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/05/31/colour-blind-racism/

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on Sat Jun 6th 2009 at 03:47:13 gllitter

Hi,Aba –I like you the only thing is don’t put down thin women okay because Black Women that are thin sometimes carry a complex about their thinness.

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on Tue Jun 16th 2009 at 15:02:19 eshowoman

Thank you for putting my blog on your blog roll. I really appreciate it.

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on Tue Jun 16th 2009 at 22:13:36 Victoria

I am a black woman married to a white man and you seem racist to me. Maybe I am wrong and if I a I apologize. BTW, are you white? Should I even ask if you are white, I doubt you will answer yes or no.

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on Sun Jun 21st 2009 at 02:12:09 dorbla21

Aba,
i absolutely love your website. I wonder if your wife minds that you spend so much time researching and looking at black women all day. You should do research on why whites like researching. no matter the subject whites are naturally curious, where blacks tend to hold back and observe from a distance. just kidding.
I responded only because I have recently decided if I am ever to get married or in a commitment it will have to be out of my AA race. Reading your blog helped a little. I am nervous, I can’t ask for help when no one knows what to do. I wish racism would go out of style like fashion.But then it would come back every other decade but with different fabric.LOL.

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on Wed Jun 24th 2009 at 06:44:25 Victoria

I read the blog titled “Black women that white men like”. It would be great if you had a blog about “White men that black women like.” I would even help you put that together! It might surprise you but some of the white men that black women like are not wannabe black men.

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on Sat Jul 4th 2009 at 03:39:45 Nubiah

I just wanted tell you blog is a breath of fresh air, I have been looking for some blogs where I can express myself and learn from others, ( I am afro -french who live in Uk) and the level is so high I can improve my english at the same time. I was really disappointed by some blogs where is full of haters and angry people. SO long life to you

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on Mon Jul 27th 2009 at 02:06:31 tvtbt

If you want to see more blacks on TV, check out True Black Television on the internet. The sitcoms are low-budget shorts, but they are there.

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on Tue Jul 28th 2009 at 07:15:48 Marcella

I like what you are doing, its about time we hear a lot of this stuff!. Keep it up you’re doing good work!

Thanks
-Marcella

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on Sat Aug 1st 2009 at 07:12:11 Taye

I just love what you do.

I laugh, cry, and grieve as I read each page.

I look forward to reading this blog in the form of a book some time in the near and distant future. History needs your words for its records.

Necessary and inspiring work you do; Don’t ever stop!:O)

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on Thu Aug 6th 2009 at 17:24:14 Black&German

Did you know that Germany’s Next Top Model is Ethiopian? Just thought I’d mention it…

http://www.bild.de/BILD/news/bild-english/celebrity-gossip/2009/05/22/heidi-klums-new-prodigy/sara-nuru-is-germanys-next-top-model.html

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on Thu Aug 6th 2009 at 18:14:19 abagond

I know about Miss Nuru (and Rachel Christie too, Miss England), but thanks (since you did not know that I knew).

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on Thu Aug 6th 2009 at 18:14:40 abagond

Taye: Thanks. I am thinking of that – a book.

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on Tue Aug 11th 2009 at 00:44:12 Cool

Check your email abagond.

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on Tue Aug 11th 2009 at 14:07:15 Leah

Hello Abagond, I was just wondering if you’ve heard of the new homes they are building in White Plains, NY? They are strictly for minorities, the politicians around there want the population to be less white. I just wanted to see what your opinion on this was and find out if maybe you could get the full detail since I’ve only heard about on a radio show.

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on Thu Aug 13th 2009 at 03:47:22 MDP

You need to get one things straight very quickly: racism is not as simple as you make it seem when talking about how white people think. So many remarks you make in “Colour-blind racism” are unfounded with the exception of your own anecdote.

I want to address only those things that are fitting for a blog (I won’t sit and write a treatise here).

1) When talking about race, what exactly do you mean? Exactly what? The only definition of race that requires a correction at any cost is a biological one. So, regarding biological differences among the races, nothing there to deal with because it doesn’t exist (as argued by multiple [inter]national bodies of researchers). What’s left to account for the differences between those we run in to whom exhibit lifestyles that engender and reinforce all sorts of violent dispositions and habits? I think culture is by far the largest explanation. However, it is incontestable that history is still responsible for sections and regions of American society that are low-performing (as an educator, this is a discriptor that comes to mind that could be, for purposes here, broadly applied).

2) I did vote for Barack Obama. I don’t know how you feel about his handling of race, but I think his inauguration speech was a fundamental judgment that race needs to stop being used as an excuse, period (cf. his referencing of Washington’s crossing of the Delware).

3) I do see black people, as well as other types of people, as they are, e.g., black, white, fat, skinny, brown, Asian (I don’t think the term yellow will every be seriously used). I also see my self for what I am–white.

4) I’m willing to accept the label “cultural racist” for my assumption that culture matters.

5) I don’t know of one white person who thinks black people aren’t willing to work hard. In fact, some of my heroes, one of whom I have the privilege of working closely with, are black. On the other hand, I work even more closely with black people who think that black people aren’t willing to work hard. Go figure.

6) I have been unsure about how to use the word black. Forgive me. My uncertainty was due to the fact many of my black students told me that they were taught by their parents to not use the word white in front of white people. Instead, they were taught to use the word Caucasian in front of white people. I made it clear to one of my fourth-grade girls that it was okay and acceptable that she use the white, that it was even preferable. As result, this situation caused me to reflect upon how to use the word black. In any case, I am more sensitive.

7) I hate the word race! I prefer ethnicity, but use race half the time out of convention. Race does not exist! It is fiction! The only other way it’s being used is in terms of culture (whichever exact term you want to insert), to address issues that relate to class prejudice. In my mind, it only makes sense to talk about race if assuming a biology. If we’re not, why continue to use such a freighted term and get down to issues closer to home?

8) Finally, your assertion that “nearly all” white people think what you describe reinforces the problem of race and is absurd in the most rational sense and statistically ungrounded, making it doubly egregious. You make these ridiculous judgment while sounding as if you’re pointing your finger at a group of people to show how you can see something they themselves can’t, and you say it’s American that makes you racist. That’s big bag of crap. Racism (really an extreme hatred of the other) exists throughout Africa, Latin America and Asia, to name a few continents. The US is hardly unique in that regard. Its history is and its consequences should be dealt with while seeking justice for all.

All the best.

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on Thu Aug 13th 2009 at 12:31:24 abagond

If most people in America assumed that redheads were violent, stupid and lazy, whether it was true or not, then redheads would become a race, in effect, despite what the latest science said.

Redheads would have a harder time making their way in such a society despite whatever their culture might be: teachers would expect less, employers would hire them last and the prisons would fill up with them because it would make others feel safer.

Redheads would have a different culture after a while because no one would want to live near them. That culture might make things harder for them, but it alone would not be the only or even main cause of their troubles.

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on Wed Aug 26th 2009 at 16:44:15 Ngoneh

Hi Abagond,

I don’t know who you are or how you found me, but I would like to say “thank you” for featuring my as a “Black Beauty of the Day”. It is much appreciated, although I have to say you did chose one of my worse pictures, lol.

Much love and much success with everything. Your blog rocks!

=)
Ngoneh

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on Thu Aug 27th 2009 at 07:04:05 abagond

Thank you. It was my pleasure! I liked that picture because it was cool and interesting and I liked your eyes and lips in it:

http://blackbeautyoftheday.blogspot.com/2009/08/ngoneh.html

Good luck in your modelling!

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on Sun Aug 30th 2009 at 23:00:35 BlackgirlUK

Hi Abagond

I mention in to the comment section about information on Black Britain -past and present. I thought these websites and books might help:

hhtp://shs.westport.k12.ct.us/chia/caribbean/handouts/exile/wi_in_britain

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/blackhistory/

http://www.black-history-month.co.uk/articles/100_Great_Britains.html

http://www.black-history-month.co.uk/articles/legacy_mary_seacole.html

http://www.black-history-month.co.uk/articles/olaudah_equiano.html

http://www.black-history-month.co.uk/articles/andrew_watson.html

http://www.black-history-
month.co.uk/articles/philliswheatleyprofile.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2001/nov/25/race.world1

Book:

Paul Gilroy: ‘There Ain’t No Black in the Union Jack: The Cultural Politics of Race and Nation’

This is a classic book and should read because of how cultural significant it was in discussing and exploring the issues Black identity in the UK

I hope this information helps and if I find any other websites/books of interest- I will post it.

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on Sun Aug 30th 2009 at 23:18:20 abagond

Thank you!!

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on Mon Sep 7th 2009 at 10:17:11 kwellz

Hi abagond

I’m writing to say i’ve used some of your articles to combat racism in the newspaper from the city which i live Buffalo NY.I’m not the greatest writer and my comments are ridiculed for grammar instead of looked at for content.Hence i searched online and found your page to be a good source for my perspective. If you ever have time check out http://www.buffalonews.com/home/, and post comments on some of the stories. I find it very difficult to get through to white folks. Maybe you can. Thanks for your informative blogs.

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on Mon Sep 7th 2009 at 11:09:30 abagond

If you are going to copy my posts, in whole or part, please link back to the rogiinal post.

From what little I have read at the Bufallo News so far the whites seem to be pretty close-minded.

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on Thu Oct 22nd 2009 at 12:05:20 Leah

i just want to say that i love your blog. thank you for being honest and make us look at the difficult questions. power on!

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on Sun Oct 25th 2009 at 00:26:18 Dan

I thoroughly enjoy your blog, especially your discussions of race and place. I’d be really interested to read what you have to say about:

– race in the Dominican Republic
– race in Brazil (if you haven’t covered it already)

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on Sun Oct 25th 2009 at 00:33:37 abagond

I so want to do race in the Dominican Republic!!!!! Excellent suggestion.

I did do Brazil already, though:

https://abagond.wordpress.com/2007/09/15/race-in-brazil/

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on Fri Oct 30th 2009 at 14:37:51 swavek

…just was wondering if Theresa Randle (Bad Boys) is enough beautiful to enter your web site, in your opinion of caurse.
take care…

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on Sun Nov 1st 2009 at 05:20:37 abagond

Thanks for reminding me of her! I made her a Black Beauty of the Day on another blog of mine:

http://blackbeautyoftheday.blogspot.com/2009/10/theresa-randle.html

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on Tue Nov 3rd 2009 at 22:12:07 Lull Mengesha

Abagond,

I would love to send you a copy of my book and hear your thoughts on it. Please feel free to email me at lullmengesha@gmail.com

Lull

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on Wed Nov 18th 2009 at 21:13:06 Rycher

So will you be doing a thread on Mr. McIntyre?

http://www.examiner.com/x-5919-Norfolk-Crime-Examiner~y2009m11d11-Police-refuse-to-charge-Columbia-professor-with-hate-crime-after-alleged-attack-on-coworker

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on Wed Nov 18th 2009 at 22:12:48 abagond

Thanks for the suggestion. I might write about it if more comes out, but so far I do not see 500 words that I could write about in that. Even the Examiner had to put in filler.

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on Mon Nov 23rd 2009 at 16:03:39 Charles

Here’s a topic for you: the National Academy of Science did a study on how people’s political beliefs affect their perception of a biracial candidate’s race. They found that the more a candidate agrees with your politics, the lighter you perceive their skin to be — and the more the candidate disagrees with you, the darker you perceive them to be.

I just read a summary of this, so I’m not sure who “you” is in that sentence — maybe just white people — but it’s a telling fact.

Here’s the URL:
http://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/11/_reply_reply_to_all.php

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on Mon Nov 23rd 2009 at 17:59:27 Charles

Weird, the story I mentioned above is now gone from the Atlantic site. The URL looked odd, but it worked. Anyway, the study itself is here:

Click to access Balcetis%20PNAS%201109.pdf

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on Mon Nov 23rd 2009 at 23:23:45 Ashlei Mayadia

I was directed here through a twitter link to your article on Disney’s Black Princess….Thanks for the information you found, cuz I had questions and I was upset that the princess isn’t even an African Priness,and now to find out her prince isn’t even African…I am not upset so much though, b/c ur article just added more proof of the institutional rasicm that American Media teaches to EVERYONE AROUND THE WORLD!!

Keep up the words…and though I’m a skinny black woman…I got LOVE 4 YA! :>

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on Fri Dec 4th 2009 at 00:08:40 Marci

Hey Abagond, I have a suggesstion for you. Write about black(and mixed!) online gamers. Especially female! While gamers are generally pretty cool about race issues, it would be nice to find other females that are non-white that play also. PC, online gaming, I mean. Not the console.

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on Fri Dec 4th 2009 at 20:31:09 Kat

Hey Abagond,

I was wondering if you do a post on the NYT article titled: In Job Hunt, College Degree Can’t Close Racial Gap.

Oh and take a look at some of the comments from white people. Unbelievable.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/us/01race.html?_r=1&hpw

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on Fri Dec 4th 2009 at 20:33:48 Kat

grammar error
if you *could* do a post

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on Fri Dec 4th 2009 at 20:42:41 Gen

Hey Marci what do you play?

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on Sat Dec 12th 2009 at 03:35:40 sandra

Do you hink racism in more subtle or overt?

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on Sat Dec 12th 2009 at 06:07:59 sandra

Do you think racism today is more subtle or more overt?

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on Sat Dec 12th 2009 at 19:07:09 Guess Who?

Bonjour….Sorry to disappoint but I am real…my name is Beaulatasha a real woman, a real model. This picture is of me. Don’t always believe what you read on the net.

ABAGOND I have sent you some pictures of me to your email address on gmail.

To everyone thanks for your honesty and opinions but I am real…Beauty is subjective some will love while others won’t. May God bless you all and happy holidays to you.

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on Thu Dec 17th 2009 at 21:52:18 lucia

abagond would you ever do an article on Alexander Pushkin?

I think he is a very interesting character 🙂

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on Sun Dec 20th 2009 at 17:20:52 lucia

ooo and to add to my above comment ^

you could do one about his etriean great grandfather Abram gannibal

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on Mon Dec 21st 2009 at 23:41:15 StarFox

http://io9.com/5422666/when-will-white-people-stop-making-movies-like-avatar

^^ Came from a white guy apparently on a very popular site. Seems similar to something you would write.

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on Tue Dec 22nd 2009 at 10:03:58 abagond

It is a common Hollywood trope that I have indeed written about: “Mighty Whitey”:

https://abagond.wordpress.com/2009/09/03/mighty-whitey/

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on Sun Dec 27th 2009 at 15:16:49 aissa

Check your email lucia

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on Mon Dec 28th 2009 at 14:06:07 lucia

^ are you talking to me aissa?

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on Thu Dec 31st 2009 at 10:03:15 Ash

I have question that has been burning my brain for a few months now. I’m a young black woman that’s nineteen years old and I’m taking notice of not only my culture but others too.

So I’ve been hanging around certain sites and reading up on my history even watching some videos on youtube. On particular parts of the web I’ve noticed something that certain people that do famous or not. Especially when you read comments.

They’ll call out one thing as racist yet on the other hand not understand why certain people are upset about what’s happened when it’s related to that culture or get a condescending and dismissive tone ex: Mj’s death and other happenings.

So are they being condescending and hypocritical, naive and dismissive, or am I making a big deal over nothing?

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on Thu Dec 31st 2009 at 11:23:14 abagond

I vote for “condescending and hypocritical”. They are self-centred jerks who cannot put themselves in another person’s shoes.

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on Thu Dec 31st 2009 at 11:28:49 Mira

Oh, but question is, Abagond- is it that they can not put themselves in another person’s shoes, or they do not want to?

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on Thu Dec 31st 2009 at 12:11:02 abagond

Well, that would be even worse!

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on Thu Dec 31st 2009 at 12:15:35 abagond

If a friend of mine was from Albania and he was upset because Albania’s greatest living singer had died suddenly, what kind of jerk would I have to be to be “condescending and dismissive”? Even if it was not my friend but some people on an Internet forum?

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on Thu Dec 31st 2009 at 13:55:39 Mira

Well, that would be even worse!

Exactly. And what I’m trying to say here (on your site) is that usually it is worse. People who care enough will try to understand.

I just guess that majority of people simply do not care about anything that doesn’t affect them or their group. If it’s something that makes their group or themselves guilty, it gets even worse.

That’s why I (and Thaddeus, I guess) tried to say white people can understand problems that black people face; they simply chose not to.

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on Thu Dec 31st 2009 at 20:24:15 Pamela

I completely agree with your post about white pride, and the subtle racism (although race is socially constructed) of white people. I also think fear is a factor in that white people have learned to be very afraid of blacks and other people of colour.
The question I always come back to, being a white person myself, is how do we go about getting white people to realize the error of their mind set? This is not to say it is the responsibility of blacks to make this happen, but how do white people go about making other whites more evolved? Is calling out the racism enough? Do we seriously need to protest and work to change basic public education?

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on Thu Dec 31st 2009 at 20:26:46 Pamela

No one can put themselves into an others shoes, each individual has a unique perspective on the world you can try to empathize but must always remember you cannot know what another has experienced. Humility is important here.

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on Thu Dec 31st 2009 at 23:34:21 Ash

Thank you so much for your answers. This was bothering me for a long time. =)

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on Fri Jan 1st 2010 at 03:54:04 Ash

I have another question I just thought of. I know not all white people act like this or listen to these men I’m about to mention.

But do people like Bill O’reily, Bill Maher, Rush Limbaugh or anyone else make a lot of people think it’s ok to to dimiss certain things that deal with race or certain achievements related to that person?

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on Fri Jan 1st 2010 at 05:49:45 Pamela

You know Rush and all the other slim bags on the public airways are smart. They use rhetoric and what can seem on the surface to be plausible arguments. The problem is that most people, especial white people because they have been trained to think in racist ways without questions – it’s normal to most, don’t have the critical thinking skills to see how much of their talk is full of fallacies and false information. I think most people are trained to be happy with the status quo especially since as white people that put’s you ahead of everyone else. Being blind is easy – no guilt and lots of rewards. This is why I really think that the mass of christian white people out there really have no concept of what true ethics really mean. They are happy to ignore and point fingers and scared to look at their own compliance and privilage because they don’t want to feel ‘bad about themselves or their heritage which they have been programed to believe is righteous.

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on Fri Jan 1st 2010 at 08:25:54 Ash

I definatly see how you say that Pamela. Especially about the intelligence part and I hope this makes sense when I say this. Would it make sense to say that also because these guys are intelligent that you have the feeling they’ll have less people question their motives or opinions because they believe they are right (the viewer and possibly the commenter)?

I ask this because I have fallen for that before and have noticed that just because they have intelligence that doesn’t always mean they have a sense of compassion.

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on Fri Jan 1st 2010 at 18:17:36 Thaddeus Blanchette

Hmm. Hope this isn’t considered commericializing or whatever…

Anyhow, I have pictures up on our blog from the 2009 Iemanjá celebration on Copacabana beach, held last week.

Might be of some interest to people who like african diasporic religions.

The photos aren’t bad, either, for amateur shooting.

http://www.omangueblog.blogspot.com/

Friday, 1/1/2010 entry.

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on Fri Jan 1st 2010 at 19:33:36 Pamela

ash; they are intelligent but remember they are not very diverse in their reading and they have writers. Like most people in the U.S. they have no real sense of history. What you get in public schools is often wrong and always lacking in terms of exploration of Africa and the slave trade.

They don’t have the information, or choose to ignore it, that would give them a sense of compassion and they don’t have ethics – it is wrong to treat other people like crap just because you can. I also think they have massive self-esteem issues so putting other people down makes them feel better in a twisted way about themselves. Sadly the Europeans marked those with darker pigmentation out as easy scape goats a few hundred years ago and it has not stopped.

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on Fri Jan 1st 2010 at 21:10:15 Ash

Thank you so much, Pamela, this has definatly opened my eyes and I apologize if I just repeated your answer in my second question also.

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on Fri Jan 1st 2010 at 23:46:50 Conceptloop

It been a while since i have found a blog/website that fascinate me as yours has. I came across your website while searching for Sandra Lang, just to get some background information on her before i continue to watch the movie via the web. its a damn shame this is the first time i have every seen reference to such a good movie. keep up the good work i will be adding your blog to my bookmark.
Thanks

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on Sat Jan 2nd 2010 at 18:20:36 Zethus101

What happened to the blog roll/that huge list of other similar blogs?

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on Sat Jan 9th 2010 at 18:31:46 Thaddeus Blanchette

Abagond, Ana Paula wants to know what the source is for your current banner header. She likes it alot!

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on Sat Jan 9th 2010 at 19:41:15 abagond

I love it too. It is from a painting, “Blues” (1929), by Archibald Motley. You can see the whole picture at the head of my post on Harlem:

https://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/02/23/harlem/

Click on that picture to enlarge.

The picture looks like it might be from Harlem in the 1920s and it even appears on the cover of the “Harlem Renaissance Reader”, but in fact it is a painting of a jazz club in Paris!

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on Thu Jan 21st 2010 at 17:00:58 Marci

Waaaah! I am too late in looking at this again. Gen, if you are still out there I started playing Ultima Online ages ago and now I’m hanging out in Aion and Wow until something better comes along. I played SWG for a while and left when they changed things. I have yet to find any other games that had that sandbox quality and still had the structure that galaxies did.

I’m in the open beta for star trek online right now. It’s ok, not sure if I will buy the actual game though.

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on Sun Feb 7th 2010 at 19:13:50 Tramontane

Your blogs are very interesting. I’m a white guy who generally prefers black women. Four of the most beautiful women I can think of are Whitney Houston, Gail King (Ophrah’s pal), Rhianna, and Vivian Brown (long time announcer on the Weather Channel) I guess eyes are not what I notice first like you do, cause Whitney has very small eyes. Whitney also has the most beautiful, pure smile I’ve ever seen. On the other hand, Rhianna has eyes that mesmerize me. Only white women I can think of who are interesting to look at are Kate Goselin (John & Kate + 8) and Flo the Progressive insurance girl. I can’t figure out what Flo has, maybe it’s her energy! she kind of snuck up on me!

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on Sun Feb 7th 2010 at 19:20:50 islandgirl

Gail King? That’s a new one. And the woman on Progressive? Like I’ve said, I will never understand men’s tastes. I think women have better taste in women than men.lol

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on Sun Feb 7th 2010 at 19:34:44 leigh204

@islandgirl:

I agree with you. For example, my significant other once told me he thought Vida Guerra was very hot. I told him, “Yes, she has a nice figure, but I think she’s a butterface.” He joked, “That’s what a paperbag is for.” He likes her because he’s a booty man. 😉

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on Sun Feb 7th 2010 at 19:52:54 islandgirl

Leigh:

lol, that’s funny! But would you rather be appreciated for having a pretty face or for your booty?

Your s.o. must be black.lol

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on Sun Feb 7th 2010 at 20:05:57 leigh204

@islandgirl:

Leigh:

lol, that’s funny! But would you rather be appreciated for having a pretty face or for your booty?

Your s.o. must be black.lol

You know I’ve never mentioned it before on here, but my significant other isn’t black. He’s also Asian like I am, but he’s from a different ethnic background. He’s dated Asian, Black, White, & Hispanic women since high school. He truly appreciates women from all backgrounds. 😀

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on Sun Feb 7th 2010 at 20:15:35 leigh204

@islandgirl:

Oh, I forgot to answer your question. I asked my man whether he’d prefer a pretty face or booty, he said, “Well, you already have a pretty face. (Aww.) And since you’ve got something to back up (I have a bit), I already have the best of both worlds.” (Aww!) Of course, he didn’t directly come out and say it, but I know he loves booty. Besides, he also joked, “You can’t put paper bag on butts.” lol! 😉

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on Sun Feb 7th 2010 at 20:40:25 islandgirl

lol. But (no pun intended) if all you (not you.. but in a general sense) have is a butt, you better not ever sit down.lol

Kidding….

His reply was very sweet. He sounds very open and sweet.

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on Sun Feb 7th 2010 at 20:46:55 leigh204

@islandgirl:

Oh, he is! I’m blessed to have someone like him in my life. 😀

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on Mon Feb 8th 2010 at 02:53:34 abagond

Tramontane:

I remember Vivian Brown! And there is something about Flo but it is hard to put my finger on it. I have been thinking of doing a post on her.

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on Mon Feb 15th 2010 at 18:17:14 ned

hi , i met a beautiful tall black at a audition in los angeles of fame the tv show in about 1984, that was 25 years ago., she aparently was a daughter of a president from one of the african nations. she was trying to get some acting and modeling jobs. i lost touch and cant remember her name. would you know who she was. her father was a long time president but i cant remember the country. ned

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on Fri Feb 19th 2010 at 02:22:15 Trixie

What do you lookk like? I wanna see a pic. of youu! lol

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on Sun Feb 21st 2010 at 11:36:32 Ash

Hello Abagond, I’ve come back with another question. This time I want to know if you know some factual and stable sites that are much more reliable than say Wikipedia on race relations and other cultural musings?

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on Mon Feb 22nd 2010 at 00:36:02 camile Ro( ash. Roberts)

was just wondering who you were??? never heard of you… thanks for the black beauty of the day post too, didnt know about it until 2 minutes ago from a few MMer.

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on Wed Mar 10th 2010 at 16:36:19 Abraham

Love your site please send me a link so I can tell others in the UK!

Hope you believe in God. Peace & Love

Abraham X

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on Sun Mar 21st 2010 at 01:53:27 BK718Bryan

Why did you delete my post before?

All I wanted to know was: What is a “nice part of town” ? I see that you can’t answer a simple question.

What makes a certain part of town “nice”? What makes a bad part of town bad? Is it crime? Is it the race of the people in the neighborhood? or it is the buildings? Please Abagond. I have to switch my names because I’m having trouble posting under my original (og) name.

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on Sun Mar 21st 2010 at 02:08:28 abagond

You are having trouble posting because you have been banned. Not because I am a coward or because “the truth hurts”, as you said in one of your posts in my spam filter, but because you are using sock puppets even AFTER I told you to stop.

A bit of friendly advice: You are a loudmouthed jerk who is not interested in seriously debating anything. Grow up. You sound like you are 14, so hopefullly this will be a growing experience for you. If not, my condolences.

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on Tue Mar 30th 2010 at 23:03:35 Sally Brown

I am writing a book about my experience in an abusive interracial marriage. The sad part of the story is that I need to know how to make my awful story appealing to the masses and how to be of hope for those sistahs like myself who love white men but don’t need the abuse.

Help anybody?

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on Thu Apr 8th 2010 at 08:07:34 Redman9250

Abagond, do you think this commercial is racist? Make notice of the guy in blackface at :14sec.

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on Thu Apr 8th 2010 at 21:02:00 Sally Brown

I didn’t know the guy was in black face. I am not offended though.

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on Wed Apr 21st 2010 at 20:48:22 Dixie

I have a question if I did the right thing. I am a white married woman and was having an affair with a white man for 3 years. I broke it off because it turned out he is a racist. He would tell racist jokes only about blacks with sexual references. He only used the derogatory terms for black people. Then I saw him with a very dark Haitian woman. He appeared to be a little nervous about being seen with her. I met her and she didn’t know who I was. It turned out that they have had a phone relationship for a year and she recently came to visit. Oddly his racist jokes increased right before her arrival. She thinks that her year long telephone relation created a friendship. He does not take her out or introduce her to other friends. And now she stays with and sleeps with him. It is a long distance relation as she is in NY and he is in Montana

I felt it was necessary to tell her that he is a racist and just using her for exotic sex. I don’t know if it got through to her. I still saw them together but I don’t know if she was just playing with him now that she knew about the racism. I feel that what I did was the moral thing to do. I would have wanted to know if the tables were turned. Now she is responsible to take care of herself and it is no longer any of my business.

My question is: do you think I did the right thing by telling her about him?

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on Fri Apr 23rd 2010 at 00:39:06 Sally Brown

OMG you have guts. I have no idea how you mustered the courage to talk to this woman but I am glad you did.
As an ex-wife of a white Brit whose mother is a prolific racist you did the BEST thing possible for this woman’s self esteem. You have no idea how demeaning it was for me to be told that I was a black dirty bitch in your own home is was awful. (she did let me know that the house I lived in not mine. I was a border in her son’s house) This is after the fact that I left everything I owned in the world for him including my son for this relationship. I wish someone had talked to me.

Thank you

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on Fri Apr 23rd 2010 at 17:36:01 Dixie

Thank you for the support. Do you think you would have listened or is it a “love is blind” situation?

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on Sat Apr 24th 2010 at 01:17:09 Sally Brown

I am not sure love was blind. I was under the impression we both wanted a mixed race relationship because we desired a love partner outside of our ethnic origin. The problems for me were very basic. I was mistreated because of my skin colour which was the very thing that turned my ex on but his family hated. Had I known the perils that faced me in the UK I would have never taken the leap of faith with a spinless jerk who backed down when his family made snide remarks and belittled me. He allowed his family to treat me in a horrible way. The situation was all about my ex keeping their bigotry a secret. Does this make sense?

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on Sun Apr 25th 2010 at 04:25:15 Leaveumthinking

Sally Brown you sound like you have very low self esteem. First of all it was just plain stupid for you to leave everything you own including your own son to just to be with white man. I mean leaving your child for any man is just selfish. Secondly it sounds like both of you had a skin color fetish. Him being turned on by your skin color and not you in general should have been a sign for you. You allowed this man and his white family to mistreat you where is your back bone? When the first incident between you and his family occur why didnt you pack your shit and leave? I think some white men hand pick weak black women with low self worth that they and their family can mistreat. My advice for you is to include other men in your dating pool. Why do it have to be a white guy? White men aint shit.

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on Sun Apr 25th 2010 at 06:43:40 Thaddeus

White men aint shit.

No, they’re white men. 😀

But I do agree: if you leave everything you own – including a son – for a man, whatever his color, you probably have some issues that need working out. Unless, of course, the son was 25 years old or whatever. But even so…

You seem to have realized this already, at least partially. But I don’t think the real issue is black or white here: there are plenty of appropriately color a$$holes who’ll screw you over if you give them your all. It’s not a good idea, any road.

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on Sun Apr 25th 2010 at 20:52:37 Sally Brown

Leaveumthinking your point is well taken. One thing that I have learned is BLACK AND WHITE. On the surface our situation was not unusual. MANipulation is a bitch. (excuse my language). I found out that my husband’s agenda was a simple give and take. I gave and he took. I did not notice my deficit until I had given my all to the relationship and had nothing left for myself.

As for self esteem I believe that it is ever evolving. My esteem at 44 may have been low but after 7 years it is back on point. So high in fact that I have come to terms with my separation and impending divorce to shared here in this forum.

I have no idea if he picked me because I had low self esteem at the beginning of our relationship. You would have to ask him. But what I can say is that to truly be in love not is not “Essence Magazines” 10 tips for a love/romantic relationship. Relationships are messy, ugly and painful at times. My marriage did not last long enough to get through the bad bits to enjoy the fruits of labor that go hand in hand with sticking it out brings. I see this as his loss because I am fearfully and wonderfully made sistah.

My son and I are closer than ever since my return back home. He understands the circumstances of my relationship because he witnessed the debacle first hand. He also understands me and knows I love him. Which makes me happy and my reply to you worth the time it took to compose the response.

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on Sun Apr 25th 2010 at 20:54:20 Sally Brown

Thaddeus your comment in the last paragraph sounds a bit familiar. Are you a British citizen?

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on Wed Apr 28th 2010 at 04:44:02 Leaveumthinking

Sally Brown

I want to apologize to you for my above comment. I felt for your son and took it too personal. I believe that men come and go but your children will be apart of your life forever. I’m happy to hear that you and your son are closer than ever.
This man and his family sounds like a nightmare. I’m glad you got the hell away from them. I’ve heard other stories similair to yours about white men mistreating black women. To me some white men have always felt superior to blacks and have always found a way to abuse, belittle, and degrade black women. The white men on this very blog stereotype and disrespect black women all while being married to one. Its unbelievable.
It’s nice to hear that you came out of this stronger and that you’re doing great. It was his loss and trust me nothing good will ever come to him. He will live to regret everything he’s done to you. It’s good he’s out of the way that way someone much better than him can take his place.

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on Wed Apr 28th 2010 at 09:54:42 Sally Brown

Thank you for your thoughts. I am so wrapped up in other projects that I sometimes do not articulate well whilst blogging in this forum. You have NO idea how white men can and do deceive black women in relationships (maybe we believe the hype). I really appreciate your comments because you have shown me that you do indeed understand. Many people in my area that know me believe that I deserved to be mistreated because “I should have known better’. Thank GOD for his grace. My family never said “I told you so” and I am blessed by my boys love and understanding.

Thanks for your comment and keep up the good work.

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on Mon May 3rd 2010 at 20:57:28 phupu doma

i like to know more about jusidem and many other things

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on Sun May 30th 2010 at 01:06:37 Jim

Please do what you can to stop racism in the world.

I urge you to take a leadership role on the world stage and put a stop to this terrible problem.

Regards,

Jim Lawson

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on Tue Jun 1st 2010 at 00:49:20 dsc

A short piece on this guy? Please. . .

Stephen Wiltshire: The Human Camera

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on Fri Jun 18th 2010 at 02:27:41 E.

Abagond please tell me why white people think black people look like Monkeys? the real reason. Maybe I should ask a White Person.

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on Thu Jul 8th 2010 at 19:42:28 Helena Holm

Hello 🙂

I am a big fan of your blog! I recommend reading it to everyone. Can you please do your breakdown of the Vandals of Europe (if you havent already) I cant wait.

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on Fri Jul 9th 2010 at 21:30:37 Mathew

Om Shanti

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on Fri Jul 9th 2010 at 21:39:37 Mathew

Hi Abagond

Sorry I am having problems posting to the other forum
I usually post on.

I don’t know what the problem is and why I am able to post here

Hope we can find the problem

Thanks :_)

Mathew

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on Sat Jul 17th 2010 at 02:57:07 TL BuBe

can i have your number pls and can you make plans to visit africa and let me be your host?

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on Fri Jul 23rd 2010 at 12:57:54 ronnie brown

can you add a Facebook link?

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on Sun Aug 1st 2010 at 15:37:14 mac

Hi,

Your blog is very interresting !
I will follow you.

Thanks

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on Sun Aug 29th 2010 at 05:53:37 this

so, lets say a white male reader who is not a fetishist, or any other “ist” who is just a liberal raised urbanite stumbles on this site and reads alot, and i mean A LOT of things he agrees with. what then…? how do i approach expressing my agreement withg these issues? not only on this site, but more importantly, in the real world. and how to express these things to other whites? a lot of things said on this site white people dont know. i just read the thing about the alligator bait. ive never heard of that practice, nor the the term ever. of course, im not from the south, its probly more populer down there. the slur or term, i mean..anyway, so how do i become more proactive in showing my beleifs regarding race? i kind of feel a white person preaching about racial injustice [ not in a whites as the victims kind of way, but in a ‘i understand whats going on’ kind of way] is like a man preaching about abortion. its kind of not my place , AND, sometimes, the support i give might be unwanted. i met people that get opffended at a white person who thinks their ‘down wit the brown.’ sometimes, people will write you off as a wanna be, or theyll think your just trying to get a girl, or you say things you dont actually mean, that if it came down to it, youd abandon your equality backing beliefs and show true colors. in summary, i, as a young, liberal, somewhat shy, city dwelling white male, dont know how to be pro black, how to propperly address issues without being pigeonheld as someone doing for unjust reasons.. thoughts?

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on Sun Sep 5th 2010 at 22:34:47 Anthony

It’s nice to see some people who take the time to write about interesting topics and not just how hot some girl online is or other junk. Great site!

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on Sun Sep 5th 2010 at 22:59:01 sam

@This:

You ask how to be on the “good” side on the race issue? Well, one thing for sure: do not preach. Nobody likes that. And never, ever try to be “black”. That is ridicilous. Almost as funny as a white guy who is “pro black”. If you are white, be a white. That is what you are. Unless you can accept that, how the hell you can accept anybody else?

What you can and should do, is open your mouth and speak out your mind if and when these questions come into any conversation. What you can do most importantly is to start to live without any race separation. I’ll bet you catch yourself everyday doing racial profilings if you start to watch yourself. That is something we all whites must get rid off.

And don’t expect any black person to hug and kiss you just because you happen to agree with lot of the stuff in this blog. And don’t go hugging them for christsakes! “They” are humanbeings just like you and might smack you if you get too cozy. See, “They” are humans just like you. “They” are not some exotic creatures. “They” even play icehockey now a days!

Most of all: just be your friggin self, man! This is life. Live it, don’t act. When you can sit in the finnish sauna with black guys and don’t feel akward sweating in between them, you’re on your way. The thing is, once you don’t have to ask these things from “Them”, you are getting somewhere.

PS. I wrote this not so seriously, incase somebody wonders the use of term “Them” or “They” 😀

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on Sun Sep 5th 2010 at 23:03:52 Herneith

@sam:

Preach sam preach!!!!

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on Mon Sep 6th 2010 at 07:47:46 sam

@herneith 😀

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on Wed Sep 15th 2010 at 05:01:12 Mina Newman

Would you be interested in doing a review on our natural skin care products? Our products are a alternative to many of the commercial products that are available in health food stores and other markets. We are strong advocates for natural skin care and would never consider putting any ingredients that are not safe on the largest organ the skn.

Thank You In Advance

Mina

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on Sat Oct 9th 2010 at 20:26:41 Josh Menson

Abagond, how sad. If only you were able to resist the belief that you have the ability to see inside another’s heart. Your belief does not make it so. It’s just your mind justifying what is in your comfort zone.

If you could see what you are really doing, then you would realize that you are making judgements on people’s hearts based on the color of their skin and their political alignment. This is what is called racism!

But for you to be able to see that, would require you to change the content of your heart. And that, Abagond, is outside of your comfort zone.

again, very sad for you because inside that comfort zone, you will never change and evolve into your potential.

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on Sun Oct 24th 2010 at 09:21:42 Lawrence Adams

I Like what you. Your choice of Photo’s and your articles both are very good
Thank You,
Lawrence Adams
Sydney Australia.

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on Thu Oct 28th 2010 at 20:54:35 Mira

What happened to “My other blogs” section?

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on Thu Nov 11th 2010 at 21:39:31 just a guy

are you really this racist or is this a way to generate controversy and increase site traffic? Are these really your beliefs about racism and white people? off the record if you want.

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on Thu Nov 11th 2010 at 21:49:15 abagond

Just a guy:

1. On my blog I try to express myself as honestly and clearly as I can.

2. You are banned for using a sock puppet, John in Philly.

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on Sun Nov 21st 2010 at 05:51:36 Antonia Luella

Hey Abagond.

I’m your biggest fan here in London and your blog teaches me so much every day. The absence of black history in European culture meant I grew up never knowing why or how certain things where.

Could you PLEASE do a blog on Tyler Perry’s ‘A Family That Prey’s’ starring Sanaa Lathan I’d love your opinion on it.

Thanks.

Antonia.

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on Mon Nov 22nd 2010 at 20:12:04 lifelearner

Would you do a piece about preparing black males as it relates to being stop by the police. With recent events like the Oscar Grant tragedy and the like, I want to prepare my AA manchildren (4yrs old and 16mths) as it relates to the police and driving while Black. Thanks

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on Thu Dec 2nd 2010 at 22:27:42 sepultura13

Hi Abagond! Since I usually read your blog at work, I didn’t want to send an email (the security on our servers is high and email content is filtered and limited) so I’ll just post here in public, “for all the world to see”! 🙂

I live in the PacNW and have all of my life (Seattle, WA; Anchorage, Kodiak, Kenai, Wrangell, and Petersburg, AK; Portland, OR; and now, Vancouver, WA). A couple of local news stories regarding white cops shooting non-whites might be of interest to you and I’ve provided the page with the links below – I’m mainly referring to the stories about the Aaron Campbell shooting in Portland OR, and the unjustified shooting of the Native American carving artist in Seattle, WA:
http://www.kgw.com/results?searchType=gen&keywords=Officer+fired+over+shooting&startmonth=9&startday=1&startyear=2010&endmonth=12&endday=2&endyear=2010&advanced=y&submit=Search

Also, a news item on CNN caught my eye today:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/12/02/slave.labor.ring.busted/index.html?hpt=C1

Isn’t it fascinating that, in this day and age, people are far more concerned about so-called ‘white’ slavery; for instance, white women who answer ads to be nannies, teachers, or sake bar ‘hostesses’ in Japan and other countries, but the continuing slavery of young Africans is overlooked and downplayed? I suppose it’s due to the whole “Africans sold people into slavery, so that makes it all right” argument…how sickening!

Anyway, kudos on your blog – I’m very happy to have found it and enjoy reading it often. Time to figure out how to put smilies and emoticons in my posts now, LOL

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on Thu Dec 16th 2010 at 18:17:56 admin

Hi Abagond, I link to you. Can I get a shoutout on your blogroll? http://www.blackwomenwhitemen.wordpress.com

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on Sat Dec 18th 2010 at 08:33:45 florence

Hi, I just discovered your site today and I have spent an embarrassing amount of time reading your articles and the comments people have made. Your posts really encourage discussion. I have been looking at the topics on black women and race. After reading your list of most beautiful black women according to blacks/whites i thought of Kerry Washington (just one of the beautiful women that did not make the list). I saw this link http://www.thatsmyface.com/index.php?option=com_faceviewer&task=view_job&id=15050

and I thought it was interesting. They basically generate an image of how a person’s face would look as a different race, or more masculine, feminine, “beautiful”, etc. I wondered what you thought about it? How do they determine these characteristics (you will see when you go to the link), I wonder.

keep up the good work.

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on Sat Dec 18th 2010 at 16:04:44 Bill Anderson

Abagond, I just found your site today from the Fred Hampton story. I wanted you to know that the FBI still plans and carries out assaults to this day. I have been a target of them since moving to the Boston area in May, 2001. They have had employers fire me from all 5 jobs I have had in the Boston area. In a concerted effort to get me to leave the area, the FBI has worked with area police departments to ban me from 9 public places.When banning me from the Norwood library, Norwood officer Flaherty admitted to me the police were behind harrassing me and challenged me to do something about it. Randolph officer Ford told me his name was Marquis in an attempt to conceal his part in a planned assault that took place in the Randolph library in 2008. I have been homeless, living in my car on Western Av in Brighton MA since Oct,2007. Boston police have visited me 6 times while sitting or sleeping in my car since then (twice at 2:30am). Boston officer Law told me if I didn’t leave the area I would get a good beating. Another Boston officer actually followed me into the McDonalds restroom there and challenged me to fight. He didn’t give me his last name and a partner he was later paired with (Broussard) also refused to identify him. The FBI has been successful at convincing everyone (media, investigative reporters, civil liberties groups, etc) not to report, investigate, or help me in any way. What the FBI and police did to Fred Hampton was despicable and I was hoping to find someone who still believes government assaults on citizens are a bad idea. My email is soxin8@hotmail.com and if I received an email from you or anyone reading this, I could send you more details about what has taken place. However, the FBI has hacked into my email account and has sent out over 1000 spam messages to people on my contact list and I have never received an email from someone willing to help, so I may not get your message. I have a Masters degree, no criminal record, and was an employee of the year at a Nashville area hotel before moving to Boston. I hope you and others reading this will tell your friends about what is taking place and consider calling media and civil liberties groups and ask them why these crimes have gone unreported. Thanks for taking the time to read this, writing about Fred Hampton, and this forum.

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on Mon Dec 27th 2010 at 21:55:38 alan

we are all pink inside.why can’t we all just get along?

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on Fri Jan 28th 2011 at 08:56:44 paula

Just stumbled across your site, wanted to comment to say I really like your blog. You’re a very stable, sensible figure in the emotionally volatile world of blogging about racism, and I like that you simply write about things as they are, the facts, no matter how hard they may be to swallow.

I mean, I’m the daughter of poor immigrants who grew up in “the hood”. I was fortunate enough to have a community of neighbors and friends who nurtured me through my own unstable family situations – none of whom were white, and who showed me the flip side of society from an early age. My grandmother was half-black. But I look completely white, and I’ve benefited from living in a racist, hate-filled, white-loving society, and I just can’t ignore issues of race when I’ve seen them play out right in front of me every day. it’d be easy for me to ignore race or be a ‘good white person’ – the complete non-racist who just loooves black people, but still sees them as some sort of otherly being. But I don’t know, I feel stupid even commenting here cause I’m pretty much an idiot with a lot more understanding to do, and it feels like I’m just dropping by to say what a divine white anti-racist person I am. I’m not. I’m a racist like any other american. and knowing this, being aware of my privilege, doesn’t make me a better person. And I don’t even wanna jump on the anti-racism thing because I don’t feel it’s my place – not to act like gays and blacks have the same problems, but it does annoy me as a lesbian when straight ‘allies’ speak for gays while other-ing and trivializing and using us for their entertainment, so just from that experience I don’t think non-whites need me speaking for them or defending them like some great mighty whitey to save their poor dark asses or put their feelings first or accessorize with them.

Sorry this has become such a rambling and useless comment, I’m a little sleep-deprived and basic grammar eludes me. I guess what I’m saying is you’re doing good and bringing good, honest information and educating (those who will stop by to listen and understand what you’re saying rather than get personally offended). Thank you, Abagond, we need more people like you in the blogosphere.

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on Sat Jan 29th 2011 at 09:25:36 abagond

Thank you for your encouragement.

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on Mon Jan 31st 2011 at 21:29:01 Mira

One stupid question: how do you pronounce “abagond”?

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on Mon Feb 21st 2011 at 09:40:16 T-fadz

thoroughly enjoying this. eye-opening and definitely helping me in ways unimaginable

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on Wed Feb 23rd 2011 at 02:38:34 mrbootyluver

Your Views on the Beyonce skin lightening debate, I think she’s bathing in Ambi at night!!!

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on Wed Feb 23rd 2011 at 19:10:40 sable

Can i just heart your whole blog?

Thank you for your amazing writing.

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on Mon Mar 7th 2011 at 20:47:44 Dave Mick

Interesting Stuff on race etc. I have always been fascinated with Genetics and human migration. I recently had my DNA tested and it is interesting we can all trace our ancestry back to Africa.

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on Tue Mar 8th 2011 at 20:21:23 william

is there away to find out how to help a young female out of the poor way she has to live

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on Thu Mar 10th 2011 at 14:12:16 Claude Jordan

Abagond,
I want to throw out a suggestion on a post, Anatole Broyard. I think you would do a wonderful job on a piece about him and his cultural identity struggle. Thanks.

Claude

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on Sat Mar 19th 2011 at 01:03:49 alleigh

Ditto to Paula’s 1/28/11 first paragraph above. After stumbling across your site, I read through lots of your articles and the comments the three days I was home sick… and did a lot of thinking, going back through every racial interaction I’ve had that I can remember, examining what my attitudes are in light of what I learned here, and trying to understand where they have come from and how I may be perceived. One of the things I like here is that not only is what you write thoughtful, blunt (that’s a compliment), intelligent, and articulate, but (most of) the people who participate and comment are as well. I shouldn’t be surprised at that– water finds its own level– but I’ve seen so many other places where it is impossible for real discussion to take place. Here, the comments do much to extend the ideas of each blog entry, and that speaks well of you as much as the content of the blog does.

I’ve passed the link on to some friends and look forward to reading more… and maybe asking some questions now and then.

alleigh

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on Thu Apr 14th 2011 at 01:45:31 thebookslut

I just wanted to let you know that I linked to your post about the tone argument.

It can be found here:
http://fetlife.com/users/328991/posts/591272

Just as an FYI, FetLife touts itself as the “Facebook/Myspace for kinky people.”

But kink is not all we talk about (or so I thought). When I tried to bring up my interpretation of the tone argument and why I’m not all daises and jelly beans when I’m calling someone out on their racism (and the whole host of other -isms and -phobias). It didn’t go over well. What happened was a bunch of people (99% white) to my blog post about tone as an opportunity to derail (surprise, surprise) and condescendingly tell me what I’ve heard so many times before – “People will listen to you better if you are nice to them and hold their hand and tell them that everything’s okay.” They also brought a past relationship of mine into the discussion when that past relationship had no relevance whatsoever to do with the discussion at hand. Basically, everybody did a whole lot of assuming, armchair psychiatry, and horrifically inept mind reading.

I quoted your post about tone as a comment to my post hoping that maybe if they listened to someone else’s words, they would understand. I don’t know whether the light bulbs over their heads have clicked on yet, as I’ve just quoted your post moments ago. I can say with probably 100% confidence that most, if not all, of their poor, little light bulbs will remain dim.

And that is all I’m going to bore you with. Thank you for your blog, your posts, and all the information you dispense in an easy (to me, at least) to understand way. I’ll probably be spending a good portion of tonight reading back entries of your blog.

I hope you’re having a good day and all is well with you and yours.

Jessie

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on Sat Apr 23rd 2011 at 02:35:21 thebookslut

I was wondering if you had any recommendations for children’s books that teach children about race in an honest way that they can understand?

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on Sun May 15th 2011 at 18:37:51 abagond

I just emailed you.

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on Tue May 17th 2011 at 18:33:18 haingo

Hello Abagond,

I’m a huge fan of your blog and tumblr, and I really appreciate the topics you write about with regards to race, culture, beauty etc… As i was reading your tumblr, i stumbled upon a picture you reblogged on May 16th 2011 with the caption ‘Israel/Palestine’ beneath. The picture was taken nowhere near that region, it was taken in Sao Paolo, Brazil, on the left being the favelas and the right the wealthier parts.
It was a series of pictures taken in order to show the differences in living conditions between the rich and poor in Brazil. I guess the common mistake would come from the person who assumed it was in Israel, the fact lies in misrepresentation, and unfortunately images are the main victims. As for the Brazilian case, i’d like to read an blogpost adressing the multiracial elephant in the room in Brazilian societies. We all know that the black population in Brazilian society are being misrepresented unfairly in all aspects of brazilian society.

Thank you, looking forwards to more reading!

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on Sun May 22nd 2011 at 13:45:25 abagond

Yes. Thank you.

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on Wed May 25th 2011 at 10:07:54 mrbootyluver

I am sending this link to some of the messages i got in my inbox the person who runs the blog is supposedly black of some sort but she seems to have some vile racist amongst her followers who spew out some nasty vile stuff about Black women. I’d like your comments, if any…..

http://mrbootyluver.tumblr.com/post/5827348444/1-anonymous-asked-black-bitches-are-naaasty

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on Wed May 25th 2011 at 14:42:45 Point Five.

We are a group of parents in Nairobi Kenya who plan to start a club for Mixed Race Children. Probably organized as a NGO.
We have been searching on Internet to find similar clubs, but in vain. Our club is meant to be for children whos mother is black and father white or mother white and father black,We want our children to appreciate and enjoy diversity in Kenya.
We kindly ask if you have any contacts or information which could be useful for us as we move on with this idea. In advance thank you.

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on Mon Sep 19th 2011 at 13:07:05 Timothy Garner

I would like to be able to post some of these articles on my facebok page, however, I am not sure how to do that.

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on Thu Sep 22nd 2011 at 16:45:16 prettyg

Hey Abagond. Can you take a look at the link below?
http://www.phoenixism.net/?p=9302#comment-46116.

The post is called “Where are all the American house keepers?” After reading the post I got the feeling the guy really wanted the title to be “Where are all the black and latino house keepers? They think they’re too good to clean up after me so now I have to deal with these foreign blacks and latinos? At least they won’t steal from me…”

I know you have better things to do with your life but I think this would make an interesting post.

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on Thu Sep 22nd 2011 at 16:45:53 prettyg

sorry sent you the wrong email address

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on Fri Sep 23rd 2011 at 04:51:18 Chris Johnston

Just read “why my wife argues” from 2007. Timeless. I think we might be married to the same woman. Sorry for the difficulties. You’re right about the kids. If she’s threatening you with bodily harm while you’re married, just imagine what she would do as a woman scorned. Trust me, I know what a scorned woman does with your children. Takes them apart, a little at a time, and then it takes someone like me (counselor) to reassemble them.

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on Thu Oct 20th 2011 at 18:24:31 Charlena Myers

Hi i am a college student in iowa and i’m doing a presentation for my sociology class and i want to base it own biraciasim and i would like to know if theres any infor. out there on the subject in this day and age if you could help me i would really appreciate it thank you

lena

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on Thu Nov 17th 2011 at 13:28:14 bob

aloha! i wood MARRY VILAYNA, just KISS her PASSIONATELY on her LIPS! mahalo aloha hb

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on Thu Dec 8th 2011 at 12:20:55 Ben Fenton

I was hoping my blog could be added to your blog roll and vice versa. I write on a range of topics such as politics, racism and news stories. Thanks for your consideration. http://resistingthemilieu.wordpress.com/

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on Sun Dec 11th 2011 at 15:21:15 Chocolate Princess

I have been following you sine you wrote the post about black women. In my whole life I never knew anyone loved or even liked black darker toned women or payed attention to us.
I grew up being called sut=tar black stuff, Seally you sho is ugly=color purple, tar baby, my family would tell the males don’t marry no dark skin woman you if you want pretty babies, or if you touch a darker skin person than you then you will become a ghost in the night etc… All the crazy stories.

In 2007 i think I read your post made me want to care more about myself and dress up put make up on look beautiful. Then I started having more problem that before with my marriage because I was finding God, and embracing my pretty chocolate skin tone. My West Indian husband(Grenada) didn’t want me wearing braids, my natural hair, and forming my own opinion. I could only wear my hair straight, keep my thoughts to myself. I even stop eating meat because it would lighten me up and not make me appear so dark, and use soaps and things to make me a shade lighter or “balance out my skin tone” now I am going through a divorce from the only man I was told I would ever get and it is getting nasty.
I know I love me and just rereading your post in 2009 made me realized I didn’t have to take the abuse.

I was and I am embracing my beautiful chocolate self because of you.

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on Sun Dec 11th 2011 at 16:16:12 Matari

Re; Chocolate Princess’ post

Two things

This is only part of the harm that whiteness (in this instance, the worship of skin tones – colorism) does and why I absolutely abhor white supremacy in any and all of its ghastly and evil forms!

You GO – Abagond!!! **Standing Ovation & Applause**

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on Sat Dec 17th 2011 at 02:32:48 jim

hi agabond, i think you write about prison rape. its a very big issue based on race.

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on Sun Dec 25th 2011 at 22:47:29 tamera

how dare you call black women ugly, we are no where near ugly. if you have a preference then so be it, but you must realize that you are not a handsome man yourself to call someone let alone an entire race ugly. so i think you really need to look at yourself in the mirror and double check before you another rude comment. and to those who thank him, i bet you need to read this post in order to feel better about yourselves. you all should do something with you lives, because people who have nothing going for themselves bag on others.

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on Tue Jan 17th 2012 at 22:41:13 ROCKSTAR ENT.

I manage a beautiful model that has a look an the full package, How can I go about getting her in you all magazine… I can send a few pics as well, so hit me back. Look forward to hearing from u.

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on Sat Jan 28th 2012 at 00:50:28 Jasen Bell

how can i share your articals on my facebook page ?

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on Thu Mar 1st 2012 at 20:20:29 officialtag

How much is an original Alligator Bait picture from the 1890’s worth

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on Mon Mar 19th 2012 at 06:29:31 destructure

abagond

I have been slandered by one of your readers on the Trayvon thread.

Sam implied I said it was ok to kill someone because of their clothing.
https://abagond.wordpress.com/2012/03/12/trayvon-martin/#comment-117869

I denied having made such a claim.
https://abagond.wordpress.com/2012/03/12/trayvon-martin/#comment-117925

Sam repeated the claim in another comment.
https://abagond.wordpress.com/2012/03/12/trayvon-martin/#comment-117925

Instead you claim that it is ok to kill a child if he wears wrong clothes, is over 14 yrs old, talks back to a grown up, punches a grown up in to the nose etc.

I have never made such a claim. Falsely attributing statements to another is unacceptable by any standard. It’s slander. Please address this. Thank you.

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on Mon Mar 19th 2012 at 07:34:28 destructure

Correction: The action slander was made at the bottom of this comment.

https://abagond.wordpress.com/2012/03/12/trayvon-martin/#comment-117977

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on Mon Mar 19th 2012 at 07:57:01 abagond

@ Destructure

Sorry, I do not run that kind of blog. If I did most of your slander against black people would have been deleted. People – mostly whites or wannabe whites – misrepresent my opinion all the time – like they cannot read or something.

If you think someone misrepresented your position either you roll your eyes (what I do in most cases) or you challenge them to back up their claim. Readers can come to their own conclusions.

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on Mon Mar 19th 2012 at 08:03:24 destructure

Okay. I challenge you to back up your claim that I’ve slandered blacks.

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on Thu Mar 22nd 2012 at 00:17:40 Kandi Kane

Good evening :). I have been a faithful reader of your blog for over a year now and wanted to start by thanking you for your bravery and ability to capture so eloquently the feelings that many people have but have had to suppress. You have provided a great forum. Now, I just wanted to get your opinion. First, some background I am first generation so I would like to think that I am bi-cultural, if such a thing exists. I have had so many internal struggles with many of racism (I am now in my early 20s and in professional school) so even though I am “making” it doesn’t mean everything is roses. However, have you ever considered leaving or repatriation? Do you believe things will get better? Will it be possible for blacks to accumulate wealth or power in this system that was founded on inequalities and for the black family to be repaired? After the Martin case, I fear for my teenage brothers life. But anyway, I look forward to your thoughts, if any.

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on Sat Mar 31st 2012 at 01:05:31 SimoneD

Abagond,
You really should do a post on this. There is video to go along with it.
This happened last year and was only reported on after someone told the St. Louis Post Dispatch about it in March.

RICHMOND HEIGHTS • Anna Brown wasn’t leaving the emergency room quietly.

She yelled from a wheelchair at St. Mary’s Health Center security personnel and Richmond Heights police officers that her legs hurt so badly she couldn’t stand.

She had already been to two other hospitals that week in September, complaining of leg pain after spraining her ankle.

This time, she refused to leave.

A police officer arrested Brown for trespassing. He wheeled her out in handcuffs after a doctor said she was healthy enough to be locked up.

Brown was 29. A mother who had lost custody of two children. Homeless. On Medicaid. And, an autopsy later revealed, dying from blood clots that started in her legs, then lodged in her lungs.

She told officers she couldn’t get out of the police car, so they dragged her by her arms into the station. They left her lying on the concrete floor of a jail cell, moaning and struggling to breathe. Just 15 minutes later, a jail worker found her cold to the touch.

Officers suspected Brown was using drugs. Autopsy results showed she had no drugs in her system.

Six months later, family members still wonder how Brown’s sprained ankle led to her death in police custody, and whether anyone — including themselves — is to blame.

There seems to be no simple answer.

St. Mary’s officials say they did all they were supposed to do for Brown. Richmond Heights police said they trusted a doctor who said she was fit for jail.

Brown’s mother, Dorothy Davis, isn’t sure what to think.

“If the police killed my daughter, I want to know,” she said. “If the hospital is at fault, I want to know. I want to be able to tell her children why their mother isn’t here.”

Davis also faults the St. Louis County Family Court, which she said forced her into a heartbreaking dilemma after the state took away Brown’s children on a claim of neglect. Davis could take in her grandchildren or her daughter, a judge said, but not both.

“I’m mad at myself because if I hadn’t listened to the courts, she would still be here,” Davis said. “If she had been here at this house, she would be here today.”

STREETS BECAME HOME

Anna Brown was one of 10 children. She graduated from Kirkwood High School. At 18, she had her first child, a boy. She had a daughter nine years later. Brown was raising them alone when a tornado destroyed her north St. Louis home on New Year’s Eve 2010. She moved to Berkeley.

Shortly after, she lost her job at a sandwich shop. Bills lapsed. The electricity was turned off. So was the gas. And the water.

Family members say Brown and her children appeared fine during visits at Davis’ home in Normandy.

They weren’t.

In April, a state Children’s Division representative found Brown’s toilet filled with feces. Burn marks scarred the floors and sinks where Brown had used small fires to stay warm. One refrigerator could not be opened. Insects and rotting food filled another, according to state reports given to the Post-Dispatch by Brown’s family.

Brown was not lucid and seemed confused as Berkeley police arrested her for parental neglect. The courts awarded legal custody of the kids to the Children’s Division. Davis could have physical custody, as long as Brown didn’t live with her.

Brown’s home was condemned. She ended up on the streets. She lived in four homeless shelters from May to September 2011.

At first, she visited her children at her mother’s home. That ended in June, when Brown started telling the children they didn’t have to listen to their grandparents and called the police to report they were being abused. Police found no evidence of abuse.

After that, Brown had supervised visits with her children at the Children’s Division. She also called her mother daily to check on them.

SLIPPING AWAY

Brown struggled with officials’ requirements for reuniting with her children. She passed two drug tests but balked at others. “She felt that she had passed them, so there was no point in doing them again,” Davis said.

A court-ordered psychological evaluation to determine whether Brown had cognitive, developmental, behavioral or mental illnesses came back inconclusive. So the courts ordered a psychiatric evaluation to determine whether Brown needed medication or a doctor’s treatment.

But Brown resisted, not understanding the difference between the two evaluations, according to her caseworker’s notes.

Still, she may have known something was wrong. She joined the St. Louis Empowerment Center, a drop-in center for the mentally ill.

“It was like a light bulb went on when she heard others tell their stories,” said Kevin Dean, a peer specialist at the center. “She was just starting to make progress.”

Brown’s witty comments often broke the ice during group meetings, said Warren Brown, another peer specialist and no relation to Anna.

Anna Brown one day said she hurt her ankle while walking near a ditch, Dean and Warren Brown recalled.

The last time they remember seeing her was in August 2011; she said she couldn’t walk up the stairs.

Brown told her caseworker on Sept. 14 that she had been admitted to St. Louis University Hospital for a sprained ankle.

Bills her mother received show Brown stayed at that hospital from Sept. 13-15 and underwent an EKG, some radiology services, lab work and cardiovascular services.

“She wasn’t very eager to go home, but we do all we can to take care of the whole patient, and we want to make sure that we do not push someone out the door as soon as she came here,” said SLU spokeswoman Laura Keller. She said there was no indication of a blood clot in Brown’s leg.

Krystle Brown said she saw her sister for the last time after she was discharged from SLU. She dropped Anna off on Market Street downtown, where Anna said she wanted to be.

Davis didn’t want her daughter out in the rain and ordered Krystle to bring her home — regardless of the court order. It was too late. Krystle couldn’t find her sister.

Four days later, Brown had her last supervised visit with her children. She was on crutches.

FINAL MOMENTS

State inspectors working for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services — a federal agency that regulates hospitals — interviewed St. Mary’s staff and reviewed medical records after the Post-Dispatch asked about Brown’s case in January.

They found that on Sept. 20, Brown returned to SLU Hospital for knee and ankle pain. X-rays of her knees were negative and she was given a prescription for a painkiller.

She refused to leave. Hospital security called St. Louis police, who responded about 5 a.m. Brown told them she wanted to go to a better hospital but refused to go in an ambulance, police said.

She then wheeled herself next door to Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center, where doctors found tenderness in her legs. They told her she was at a pediatric hospital. She said she wasn’t leaving unless someone took her to an adult hospital, according to the inspectors.

An ambulance then took her to St. Mary’s, inspectors found. She arrived at 11:45 a.m. Her left ankle was swollen. She was there for about seven hours, during which ultrasounds on both of her legs were negative for blood clots. A nurse said she saw her stand up. A social worker gave her a list of shelters and a phone number for transportation.

She returned eight hours later by ambulance complaining of abdominal pain only, inspectors said. She refused to sign discharge papers but was discharged at 7 a.m.

Richmond Heights Officer Jason Tharp was at St. Mary’s on another call about 10 a.m. when a security officer, Steve Schaffer, told him a woman was claiming she “did not receive adequate medical attention and did not have to leave.”

She was sitting in a wheelchair and told officers she was waiting for a ride. Tharp told her to wait outside or face arrest for trespassing.

“You can’t arrest me. I know my rights, I can’t even stand up!” she yelled, according to police.

Officer Scott Stebelman said he waited for about three hours for a doctor to examine Brown before taking her to jail. At 12:30 p.m., a doctor issued a “Fit for Confinement” report, according to the state inspectors.

The inspectors’ report, however, contains some differences from reports written by Richmond Heights police and the county medical examiner’s office:

• Police and medical examiner reports, based on interviews from that day, quote St. Mary’s staff as saying Brown did complain of leg pain on her return visit, not just abdominal pain.

• A St. Mary’s nurse told the medical examiner that Brown was still complaining of leg and abdominal pain at 12:40 p.m.: “She was advised that she had already been treated and needed to leave the hospital.”

• Police said the doctor’s “fit for confinement” decision was made at 1:20 p.m., not 12:30 p.m. Police also said Brown yelled “My legs don’t work!” as they wheeled her out after the exam.

DYING IN JAIL

Once in custody, Brown initially cursed at Tharp inside his patrol car during the ride to jail and asked for a wheelchair after officers ordered her out of the car, according to surveillance tapes.

“I can’t put any pressure on my legs,” she told them.

Two officers then pulled her into the station by her arms. Police listed “suspected drug use” as Brown’s physical state and “unknown leg pain” under medical notes.

While at the police station, Brown’s condition worsened. Officers carried her by her arms and legs into a cell and left her on her back on the floor. She moaned and moved her head back and forth. She’s last seen moving on the tapes at 2 p.m.

A dispatcher with East Central Dispatch zoomed a surveillance camera in and out on Brown because “it was difficult to determine if the prisoner was still breathing later due to the pixilation grain on his monitor,” police reported.

Fifteen minutes later, a jail worker readying meals found Brown unresponsive. Several responders shocked her with a defibrillator and started CPR. Paramedics rushed Brown back to St. Mary’s.

Within hours of being declaring fit for confinement, Brown was pronounced dead.

Back in the jail cell, Richmond Heights Fire Chief Kerry Hogan was putting away the jail’s defibrillator when, according to a recording of the conversation, a Richmond Heights officer told him: “We got a ‘fit (for confinement’) on her a half hour ago. I mean, literally, a half hour ago we brought her in here.”

“Where at?” Hogan asked.

“St. Mary’s.”

“What was, uh. Any problems at all?”

“No, they thought she was a drug seeker.”

“Well, that could very well be … And that’s a shame.”

Acting Police Chief Maj. Roy Wright refused to identify the officer on the tape. He also wouldn’t let the Post-Dispatch interview Stebelman, who sat with Brown for three hours waiting for a doctor’s exam. Wright said his officers had no way of knowing Brown’s dire condition.

“A lot of times people don’t want to stay in jail and will claim to be sick,” he said. “We depend on medical officials to tell us they’re OK.”

Likewise, the dispatcher monitoring Brown as she died had no way of knowing she wasn’t just sleeping, said Mark Dougherty, general manager of East Central Dispatch.

“It’s not unusual to have someone lay there lethargic,” he said. “If he felt it was more severe, he would have called.”

SEARCH FOR ANSWERS

All nine of Brown’s siblings went to St. Mary’s after learning she was gravely ill. Confusion and frustration took over as they waited 45 minutes for a doctor to tell them their sister was dead.

“They told us she came in from the jail unresponsive and, ‘We don’t know what happened,'” Krystle Brown recalled.

Davis said she did not receive a bill from St. Mary’s, as she had from SLU Hospital. She said she has been told she cannot see the medical records without proving a legal right to them.

She vowed to not give up.

“When you lose a child, it’s like a part of you you will never, ever get back,” Davis said. “It’s like a part of your soul, a part of you is totally gone. And when you don’t know why, you keep wondering, you keep guessing.”

Brown’s cause of death puzzles Davis because immobility is a risk factor for deep vein thrombosis, the medical term for clots in the legs. “My daughter was homeless. She had to move around constantly.”

But trauma, such as a sprained ankle, also is a risk factor. So is obesity, said Dr. Samuel Goldhaber, a Harvard Medical School professor and director of Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s Venous Thromboembolism Research Group. At autopsy, Brown was 5 feet tall and weighed 189 pounds.

“The body responds to trauma by revving up the coagulation system to prevent the individual from bleeding to death from the trauma,” Goldhaber said. “But half the time, DVT is silent and there are no symptoms whatsoever.”

In most cases, diagnosed patients take blood thinners and walk out of the hospital, said Dr. Elliott Haut, an emergency medicine expert for Johns Hopkins Medicine.

“Relatively small periods of immobility can potentially cause DVT,” Haut said. “Not every test is 100 percent, but if you do the test and see the veins you are supposed to, you shouldn’t miss it.”

St. Mary’s staff leaned heavily on the state’s investigation in defending its actions.

“Our records show that, in this case, everything that should have been done medically was done properly. We found nothing that would have changed this tragic outcome,” according to a statement.

Hospital spokesman Neil Keisel said, without providing specifics, that the medical examiner’s report had inaccuracies and, “If that information was true, we would’ve been cited by the” state inspectors.

PASSING JUDGMENT

Brown’s family hired an attorney, but a lawsuit hasn’t been filed.

Should the matter make it to court, it will rest on whether St. Mary’s violated state medical malpractice laws, said Sean Fosmire, a Michigan attorney with more than 30 years of experience representing hospitals and physicians.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services “must have seen there was enough … medical testing to satisfy the federal law,” Fosmire said. Federal law does not require accurate treatment, he noted.

If St. Mary’s doctors “went through an exam, did testing and determined that the diagnosis was something else like a leg cramp, they may have been wrong, but that doesn’t mean they’re in violation of the federal law,” he said.

The family’s success in court also would depend upon how much a jury finds her life was worth — in dollars, said Tom Keefe, a Belleville-based personal injury attorney.

“If you kill a homeless man with no job, he’s not worth very much. But if you wipe out (Cardinals star) Matt Holliday, who is making $20 million a year, it’s worth a lot of money,” Keefe said. “Even though they are both human beings and both victims, the truth is, death cases are evaluated by the losses you can prove the survivors have suffered.”

Davis said she still has trouble sleeping and eating, and constantly questions whether she should have taken in her daughter. She said she wants permanent custody of her grandchildren, now 11 and 2.

Brown’s son is in counseling to deal with his mother’s death but is earning A’s and B’s. The girl kisses a picture of her mother whenever her grandmother wears a T-shirt bearing her image.

The family wore the shirts to Brown’s burial on Oct. 8. Krystle Brown still wears hers to bed.

“She was not a drug dealer or a hooker or doing other things that she could’ve ended up dead for,” the sister said. “People assume things because of they way they talk or the way they live or the things they do.

“My sister is not here today because people passed judgement.”

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/woman-unhappy-with-care-at-st-mary-s-hospital-is/article_ed640f3d-64a0-516c-88ff-fb770b5e9677.html#ixzz1qeUBnDSW

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on Sat Mar 31st 2012 at 01:11:58 SimoneD

There are much better articles on Anna than the one that I sent you. This is articles is trying to cover up what really happen and paint Anna as someone who was suffering from mental illness.

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on Mon Apr 30th 2012 at 17:00:15 Kathie Ryan Garcia

I was so excited when I saw your web site about Urban Prep. As the grandmother of a Kenyan/American grandson. I saved the site to show my daughter. I was moved by the testimony of the woman who described the incident of racism by the ignorant white woman. I have seen the same thing happened to my granddaughter. I am so disturbed by the increased. Hatred and racism in America right now. I am outraged by the death of Trayvon Martin. I recently heard an interview by Rodney King and was moved by his attitude and transformation in the light of such vicious racism. I keep hearing his words in my head “can’t we all get along”. It’s wrong to exclude, degrade, dehumanize any human being regardless of race. How can we understand each other if we can’t talk to each other? You are wrong to exclude any race o
As long as they speak from a place of respect. That’s racism. My President is as much white as he is black and so is my Kenyan grandson and my Zambian grand daughters. I am a woman who happens to be white and how Ian to see a future fory beautiful grand children with such a divided world. Please. Open your heart. Judge others based on merit and join with other like minded human being for Justice go All. Thank you for highlighting such a wonderful school.

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on Thu May 10th 2012 at 17:57:20 michael wilson

I love the image on your home page. Where did you find it? It looks just like several drawings I created several years back. I still create them. My drawings use natural images of blackness to reinforce black is beautiful. Feel free to take a look on my website

http://Www.michaelwilsonartist.com

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on Thu May 17th 2012 at 09:12:21 Deseurable

Abagond-

There is a blog that I wonder if you have any thoughts on, or would like to post with your thoughts?

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2012/05/15/straight-white-male-the-lowest-difficulty-setting-there-is/

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on Thu May 17th 2012 at 09:29:12 abagond

That is an interesting way of thinking about it. I have a post like it:

https://abagond.wordpress.com/2010/12/07/if-america-were-a-game-of-monopoly/

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on Thu Jun 7th 2012 at 00:22:45 playwrightsmuse

Hello, Abagond —

I know your blog doesn’t exist for the sake of white people, but I wanted to let you know that reading some of your posts prompted me to apologize to some People of Color I’ve offended. At least, the ones I know I’ve offended. I’ll watch myself more in the future.

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on Thu Jun 21st 2012 at 11:02:54 RBB85

Adidas sneakers with shackles:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/21/fashion/adidas-cancels-release-of-shackle-sneakers.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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on Fri Jul 13th 2012 at 12:52:44 Jani

The masthead photo? All kinds of awesome.

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on Mon Aug 13th 2012 at 04:02:45 inthisjournal

Hi, i just wanted to let you know that i linked to one of your post on my blog at:

http://inthisjournal.wordpress.com/2012/08/12/the-second-seme/

I appreciate your summary of Fannon.

I also keep up this blog:

http://facetofloor.wordpress.com/

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on Mon Aug 20th 2012 at 11:49:49 Dave Enamu

Hi, I am just wondering why my replies are not being shown, I’ve sent two to your blog “how white people think” and can’t find them.

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on Mon Aug 20th 2012 at 12:53:31 abagond

@ Dave Enamu

For some reason they have no IP addresses, unlike this one you just posted. Since I do not know where they are coming from I delete them.

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on Mon Aug 27th 2012 at 17:31:14 Spokesman

I think you could like the information presented in this video; I know
that have:

Peace.

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on Thu Sep 6th 2012 at 16:36:24 Anne

Aga,
Did you get remarried? I noticed your profile says you left your wife in 2009 but you refer to your wife in later posts. Just curious….I new to this blog.

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on Sun Sep 9th 2012 at 02:17:03 abagond

@ Anne

I do not give out personal information like that any more. People throw it in my face or use it against me on other blogs.

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on Sun Sep 9th 2012 at 06:50:34 Y.

^^^

Yeah, its best not to do that..Part of the reason I stopped talking about things that are too personal, especially romantic stuff on my blog. Everyone online that I follow who revealed details about romantic relationships, no matter how minor, has had it used against them. FACT.

It never fails

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on Sun Sep 9th 2012 at 15:10:11 B. R.

Yes, Abagond, I saw that go down on you, we know who did it…if you had a position that differed from him on a certain subject all of a sudden you got cyber psycho analysed about your personal situation as though that had to do with the subject…I saw the blog ouside here with this psycho analysis also on you…

I just got scrutinised for bringing in my wife and son in a pertinant referance to the subject on another thread. As though I was trying to hide behind them to be accepted on this blog , according to a political agenda paper this person had read…what a laugh, anyone who is reading this blog knows there is no fun acceptance for being in an interracial ralationship and raising a bi racial son…there have been many misconceptions and attacks on bi racial kids on here, with tons of psycho analysis of how to describe themselves and who they are and what they cant be labled.And there are young bi racial kids coming in here and seeing some of this stuff, they need to see other sides also, a family who already raised their bi racial son and how my son is dealing with the problems in his life, and at the same time not make it political and some put down on black men like seen on the BWE thread.

I decided to be tranparent to just show that this is who we are. We are out in the world anyway as a unit as entertainers, we mail off a lot of information to strangers with our picture and telling who we are with personal contact information, and we are advertised for the jobs we do so , sell cd’s and dvd’s with our names and contact, in many ways we are already exposed.

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on Sun Sep 9th 2012 at 15:15:28 B. R.

Abagond, I was hoping to get a personal e mail responce why my youtubes from my channal arnt coming up anymore and only showing the first one on the list….since Im anxious what the real reason could be , I was hoping you could give me that answer in a personal e mail

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on Sun Sep 9th 2012 at 16:11:31 leigh204

abagond

@ Anne

I do not give out personal information like that any more. People throw it in my face or use it against me on other blogs.

Y.

^^^

Yeah, its best not to do that..Part of the reason I stopped talking about things that are too personal, especially romantic stuff on my blog. Everyone online that I follow who revealed details about romantic relationships, no matter how minor, has had it used against them. FACT.

It never fails

This is true. In the past, I had posted on Abagond’s blog about my mom’s cancer and her eventual death from this horrible disease. Not too long ago, I had a bit of a spirited debate with one commenter (DDG). I’m sure you guys can figure it out. And this wretched character thought it was appropriate to refer to my recently deceased mom using a shovel reference. Classy, huh? Abagond deleted his disgusting comment. Anyway, the point is, you have to be careful what you post because there are lowlifes out there who will try to throw your personal life in your face the first chance they get.

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on Sun Sep 9th 2012 at 17:05:30 leigh204

@ SW6:

^hmm figure it out you say. mmm… duckdouche something or other.

Ding, ding, ding! Close enough! Folks, we have ourselves a winner!

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on Mon Sep 10th 2012 at 00:48:43 B. R.

Leigh, that was really in bad taste that your mother was brought into the discusion…Im sorry you had to hear that

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on Mon Sep 10th 2012 at 02:35:43 leigh204

^ Heh, I’ll live. I knew he was trying with all his might to get a rise out of me, but it didn’t work. I was on to him. Besides, Abagond stepped in and did his thing and put a stop to it. Anyway, this person was banned shortly after for posting as a sock puppet. Not very smart on his part. lol!

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on Mon Sep 10th 2012 at 17:35:25 Anne

Agabond,
That makes perfect sense. Thanks for the reply.

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on Sat Sep 22nd 2012 at 19:54:02 Reserved Love

I’m so glad I found your blog today. I’m working on a research paper at the moment and it’s about identifying stereotypes of african-americans in the media. Your blog is a great source for the information I am looking for. I look forward to reading some other posts on here. I, personally, have been becoming more interested in this topic and your blog seems like the perfect place to read up on more racial issues.

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on Sat Oct 6th 2012 at 18:17:30 vanishing point.

I would like to see the comments at the top, under the tweets as I seem to scroll past the tweets every time I visit. Just my 2cents.

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on Tue Feb 26th 2013 at 22:03:16 JJ

Hello A,

I have some post ideas: Nikki Giovanni, bell hooks
Read a book named Misogyny by Jack Holland

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on Tue Feb 26th 2013 at 22:28:43 abagond

@ JJ

Thanks for the suggestions.

I have done several posts on bell hooks:

https://abagond.wordpress.com/2009/04/29/bell-hooks/

https://abagond.wordpress.com/2009/06/09/bell-hooks-loving-blackness-as-political-resistance/

https://abagond.wordpress.com/2011/06/16/bell-hooks-talking-race-and-racism/

https://abagond.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/bell-hooks-the-issue-of-self-love/

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on Mon Mar 18th 2013 at 18:57:32 Jacque

What do you think of “Being White in Philly” an article in Philadelphia magazine and Mayor Michael Nutter’s response to the article/

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on Mon Apr 8th 2013 at 02:24:33 Cornlia

Hi Abagond, my son just told me that the animation movie Kirikou has not been shown in American theaters because of “nudity”. I think it would be nice to have a post on Kirikou (and its reception in the US and the rest of the world)… a very very nice movie that teaches stuff about West African cultures in a very pleasant, positive and intelligent way (imho). Thanks.

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on Mon Apr 8th 2013 at 19:46:46 Lowell Thompson

I just stumbled across your blog while doing a search on Human Zoos.
It (your site) looks pretty good after a 5 minute scanning. Most blogs I go to don’t. So I just bookmarked you.

Now the commercial. I’m a recovering adman in Chicago. I’m about to publish my latest treatise: “RaceMan Answers: America’s Toughest Race Questions”.

I may want to quote from your site here. If I do, I’ll let you know, OK?

You also may want to check out one of my blogs: http://buythecover.com

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on Mon Apr 29th 2013 at 22:35:09 Vagabond Abscond

Why do my comments always get thrown to moderation when I don’t use your forbidden words or post more than one link at a time? I see people who post after me getting their comments published before me. Obviously the world will not end over this, I am just curious…

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on Sun May 5th 2013 at 23:36:31 v8driver

@abagond what was your major and do you have any advanced degrees?

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on Fri May 24th 2013 at 23:02:16 Delwin

Abagond, I have learned a lot reading your blog since I discovered it not long ago. I’m a white, 70 year male. I guess there must be something terrible about me just for being who I am and who my ancestors were. Have you considered writing a book of instructions for white people? I’m left with no idea of what I should think, say, or do in order not to be the awful person so many of your readers think I am. Maybe you think I’m a terrible person, too. I know you are very busy but would you be willing to take the time to tell me, and perhaps many others like me, what are the positive attitudes, beliefs, and actions would take me out of the category of a horrible white guy. You, and your readers have told me over and over the bad things about me. How can I be a better person in your eyes and those of your readers, or is it impossible for me to be a good person? This is not a sarcastic comment. I really am baffled.

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on Sat May 25th 2013 at 01:09:10 abagond

@ Delwin

Jane asked pretty much the same question, so I will write a post on it.

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on Sat May 25th 2013 at 03:28:56 jefe

I am sure that Abagond has thought about this a lot, but I think one thing every concerned citizen can do is try to get a more accurate picture of history taught in school and in the media.

* White history month: – accurate depiction (eg, who was eligible for and benefited from the Homestead Act, the GI bill, etc.)
* Keep “ethnic” studies in jurisdictions where they have been banned or limited (which is about everywhere). I don’t see how Americans learning about the history of Mexican-Americans in Arizona be branded “ethnic” studies. It didn’t just start with the American war with Mexico where they won and seized the land.
* Require that all Americans, including whites, but everyone else too, must learn about the history of a wide cross-section of Americans, including the part that predates European invasion. Why does history of America before the 17th century point only to Europe, when there was another 10,000 years of human history on the land before that.

Maybe react as a concerned citizen to the school boards?

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on Tue May 28th 2013 at 00:24:35 R. Angus Love

Hi, I got your article “White women” forwarded from someone else and with a quick look at it responded to the forwarder by mistake. My responce was not positive, as not reading it in full, jumped to what I refer to as “Blackology”. Since then I’ve gotten several of your articles directly. I’ve also read you FAQ. There was a grad student at USC that wrote for me during the 80″s and as I read your items, it appears we may be connected, and only you would know. Having said that, and knowing the “See no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil and do no evil” as what I do, you may know the trust in asking you to contact me directly. By the way, your articles for enlightenment are good. Pray we communicate soon.

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on Sun Sep 1st 2013 at 20:47:44 Trace Ordiway

RE: Mychal Massie. His August 27, 2013 Daily Rant “Open Letter To Barack Obama” is getting FB shares like crazy from white people I know. (For the record I am white and >age 50). I am stunned to search your blog and see no posts on this Massie guy. I know my “friends” are so excited about it and posting/sharing it ’cause it allows them to say “See! See! He’s black and even HE hates Obama and for all the same reasons I do!” Reading this guys’ stuff (I can’t stomach but few paragraphs at a time) makes me sick at heart. You are not aware of him? Or have chose not to comment? Thanks.

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on Fri Oct 18th 2013 at 19:51:32 Xena

Congratulations!

I have nominated your blog for the Word Press “Most Influential Blogger Award.”

More about this nomination is at
http://blackbutterfly7.wordpress.com/2013/10/18/most-influential-blogger-award-nomination/

Hope you accept this nomination.

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on Tue Oct 22nd 2013 at 03:20:23 TSIO

Hi Abagond, i sent you an email at your Gmail account regarding a link and possible post. Thanks.

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on Tue Nov 5th 2013 at 12:11:36 In Vino Veritas

Your answer to “Q: What is that picture in your masthead?” needs updating i guess…

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on Wed Nov 6th 2013 at 23:55:37 Ebonymonroe

@Abagond

How did you come up with the name Julian Abagond? Just out of curiosity.

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on Sat Nov 30th 2013 at 07:49:50 TrthBTold

How can I delete a previous comment?

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on Thu Jan 23rd 2014 at 19:48:42 constantly

Yea…. How can I delete a previous comment?

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on Mon Jan 27th 2014 at 17:35:16 thwack

abagond

You should read (not skim) these posts:

https://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/05/31/colour-blind-racism/

https://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/08/06/all-whites-are-racist/

https://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/02/09/how-white-people-think/

https://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/07/02/why-whites-are-blind-to-their-racism/

I am basing most of this on my own experience in and near New York. I do not have an army of sociologists and statisticians to back me up.

*** But I find it odd that it is almost always white people, not black people, who disagree with me.***
——————————————————————————————————-

and,

and,

They come seek you out to do it!

Thats like John Wayne coming over to your house to argue with you (all night till you give up and go to bed) about what a cowboy is. LOL.

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on Tue Feb 18th 2014 at 21:50:42 Andre Teissier du Cros

I just ran into your site while looking for info on the Tasmanian genocide. Bravo. Stay the course. Only one remark: It is important to distinguish between xenophobia, which is very common and naturally violent, and true racism which is less widespread and sometimes non violent. The most dangerous form is xenophobia justified by racist theories. That is called Nazism.

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on Mon May 12th 2014 at 03:13:46 Argha (@Arghaful)

Who or what is the picture used above for this web?

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on Fri Jun 13th 2014 at 23:39:21 Nikki Jeremy

Abagond,

Would you write a post about when slavery in the US truly ended for blacks? Particularly in Louisiana, which was exempt from the Emancipation Proclamation. It seems that slavery may have lasted a long while after 1863 in pockets. My great grandfather was born in 1866 in Avoyelles parish, LA, and I was told he was a slave until about age 11, which would be around 1877. Is that possible?

I’m glad you do what you do…

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on Mon Aug 4th 2014 at 13:58:43 Nonduality Highlights

If anyone’s interested there’s a Diunital Conscousness group on Facebook. All contributions welcome: https://www.facebook.com/groups/334840863335200/

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on Tue Sep 9th 2014 at 07:03:53 Unknown

When did you start up this website?

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on Mon Oct 27th 2014 at 22:13:36 Wendell Hatcher

This is hands down one of the best bl
og sites I have ever seen. Please keep up the good work. And, you really should write a book your information is amazing!

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on Mon Oct 27th 2014 at 22:14:57 Wendell Hatcher

A post on the Jim Crow Era and Black Wall street showing how blacks started to build after slavery along with how it was alll destoryed would be cool as well. Whites had time to build up the foundation they have today but our foundation was continously destroyed.

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on Sat Jan 17th 2015 at 04:44:10 SOULar Lioness™

Wow! I’m so glad I came across your blog! I found you last night when I googled “Psychopathic Racial Personality” and one of the links that came up was your post discussing this. Now I’m just looking around and I really like what I see! I’m going to enjoy learning here!

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on Fri Apr 17th 2015 at 08:58:17 Shan

Hello. My name is Shan and I am taking an Extension History class and we are required to complete a research project.
I have chosen to discuss the historiographical issues that arose from the 18th and 19th century Ancient Egyptian race controversy.

My project is: “Assess the differing perspectives of historians regarding the Ancient Egyptian race controversy.” I can’t seem to find sufficient information on historians that debated the ‘white Egyptians’ hypothesis.

My chosen historians include: Chiekh Anta Diop, Chancellor Williams, Clifford D. Connor, Christoph Meiners and George Gliddon

I was wondering if you had any information about the traditional view of Ancient Egyptians as a ‘white’ race as many of this information is lost, especially on the internet.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask 🙂

Thank you,
Shan

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on Thu Jun 18th 2015 at 14:44:27 thom amundsen

good morning, I borrowed your picture … the link below. So very sad:

http://thinkingoutloudagain.com/2015/06/18/i-will-believe-for-the-victims-of-charleston-ame/

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on Fri Jun 19th 2015 at 23:08:02 Janelle Tames

Just stumbled upon yr website this morning & was really interested in all the ‘ancient history of the world’, origins etc. However as I read further & further I started to recognise maybe you were a ‘black american’. I personally don’t give a damn what u r made of. I was enjoying the history immensely but became disappointed to have yr take of racism (or whatever else u want to call it) seep into the information. Pity. U’d b better off just giving us the ancient facts as they have been reported & not to incorporate yr slant on things. U gave yrslf away as being “black” by all yr snide comments on lack of racism of the old world.

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on Wed Aug 12th 2015 at 23:57:17 Black Power

Abagond why don’t you write a post about the safest or most ethnic areas for black people to live

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on Thu Aug 13th 2015 at 00:33:51 abagond

@ Black Power

Like worldwide or just in the US?

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on Wed Dec 2nd 2015 at 20:17:07 Rayna

Are you one person or a group? Because I’m using this website for a paper I’m doing and I have to write the author’s name and other citations, but can’t find any. Is this a professional/official website?

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on Mon Jan 18th 2016 at 11:47:35 abagond

@ Rayna

“Are you one person or a group? Because I’m using this website for a paper I’m doing and I have to write the author’s name and other citations, but can’t find any. Is this a professional/official website?”

I know this is way late, but for future reference, this is a personal blog and I am just one person, Julian Abagond. I do have guest posts from time to time, but they are clearly noted on the first line of the post.

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on Sat Jun 11th 2016 at 06:53:04 Solitaire

@ Abagond

I’ve been really enjoying watching the moon wax in the current masthead! So cool!

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on Mon Jun 13th 2016 at 12:24:17 abagond

@ Solitaire

“I’ve been really enjoying watching the moon wax in the current masthead! So cool!”

It is going to wane too!

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on Mon Nov 28th 2016 at 03:57:01 Afrofem

@Abagond

Your choice of masthead for November 2016 is quite thought provoking. So much has changed and so little has changed.

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on Mon Nov 28th 2016 at 04:32:17 abagond

@ Afrofem

What I was thinking too.

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on Tue Nov 29th 2016 at 20:42:47 Afrofem

@Abagond

Please delete these comments:

https://abagond.wordpress.com/2016/11/23/programming-note-30/#comment-359533

https://abagond.wordpress.com/2016/08/26/alt-right/#comment-333474

Thanks,

Afrofem

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on Tue Nov 29th 2016 at 20:48:21 abagond

@ Afrofem

Deleted.

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on Wed Nov 30th 2016 at 03:21:37 Afrofem

@Abagond

Thanks so much!

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on Fri Mar 24th 2017 at 21:09:34 Rorschach

Interestingly I used to work with computer systems, I was a SysOP, then moved to servers and such, like you (Abagond and sepultura13) both who work with computers I had blogs and sites and put lots of things out on the web. However, I retired from working and now just do motorcycles, writing a book, hit the gym 3xweek, and light travel, I do not have time to blog or even do these sites–I stumbled here for information about Mary Taylor.

I have decided those who sit behind the screen getting paid also get time to dabble, or get serious, over the web. I have no idea if this describes either of your situations but it does mine–a few years back. I made lots of money working the systems AND blogging away. It was cool as hell.

I skim-read something above about figuring out if someone is white.If you want to know my race, other than American–which we all are–maybe some offshore folks are here, and that’s wonderful–just ask, If it matters, I’ll be more than happy to recite my proud heritage. I have yet to do a DNA study so I can only talk about what I’ve been told and where I’ve lived. Skin color, facial form and such. Maybe I’m black but don’t look like it–is that possible? My parents would be shocked!

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on Mon Apr 3rd 2017 at 04:24:15 Afrofem

@ Abagond

Saw this passage on the Republican post:

“The Republican Party represents business interests and the religious right. It is favoured by white people who are either well-to-do or go to church regularly.

They might seem like strange bedfellows, but both want to put a break on social change. “

https://abagond.wordpress.com/2006/12/11/republican/

Did you mean “brake”?

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on Thu Apr 6th 2017 at 00:45:57 abagond

@ Afrofem

Thank you!

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on Mon Aug 7th 2017 at 11:45:46 pinpointcoaching

@abagond

https://black-to-the-bones.tumblr.com/post/163706756809/this-is-quite-a-shocker-i-didnt-think-it-could

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on Wed Jan 10th 2018 at 16:15:27 John Locke

Julian,
Just stumbled on to your website (not through Stumble On, though) and I think its fantastic and hilarious. Your “Tone” of educated bemused anger and/or weary exasperation with the landscape seems to be carried consistently and well done.

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on Tue Feb 19th 2019 at 14:12:19 Open Minded Observer

@Abagond

You made the following comment in the “Cory Booker on blackface” thread:

A White anti-racist can have ten times the effect of a Black anti-racist.

I do not disagree. There are absolutely plenty of situations where a Black voice would be ignored and a White one might gain some ground.

However, on a personal note, I wanted you to know what a difference you make. Your posts, and the subsequent conversations, have a huge impact by giving us White folks the tools, the messages, the perspectives to be able to make the most of the opportunities we have to influence others.

I’d guess that White people come to your blog for three primary reasons; they’re either looking to troll, looking to change and grow or they think they have it all figured out and are looking for a pat on the back. (Honestly, it’s probably a 3-legged stool… I’m certain I’ve been all 3 at one point or another.)

Anyway, I know your blog isn’t written for White people and you do not need one iota of validation from me. But, you are, and will always be, immeasurably more effective than me in the fight against racism. I can say that with confidence because anything I accomplish has at least some roots in knowledge gained here.

Thank you.

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on Mon Nov 16th 2020 at 14:48:04 Moewsaleh

@Abagond

In Al Adrisi Roger Map , there are the “Cocaia Mountains” or “Kuqaia” in this mountain was build the DAM of Thulqarnain , but this name is old name .. do you know the current name of the Cocaia Mountains today or where i can find it on google map ..

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on Mon Nov 16th 2020 at 14:50:07 Moewsaleh

You can find the cocaia mountains on this old map
https://www.raremaps.com/gallery/detail/60150/lasia-nuovamente-corretta-et-accresciuta-secondo-le-relati-rossi

This map is similar to Idrisi roger map

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